Authorities said today more than 160 people have died from the cold in Afghanistan this month in the harshest winter in more than a decade, while residents said they can no longer buy fuel to heat their homes due to temperatures dropping significantly. below zero.

“From January 10 to the present, 162 people have died due to low temperatures.” said Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management. About 84 of those deaths were reported last week.

Afghanistan experienced its coldest winter in 15 years, with temperatures dropping to minus 34 degrees Celsius., while the country is going through a severe economic crisis.

Many humanitarian organizations have partially suspended their activities in recent weeks due to the decision of the Taliban administration to ban women from working in aid organizations.

In a snow-covered field in the western part of the Afghan capital, children scour the trash for plastic they can burn to help their families who can’t afford firewood or charcoal.

“Children wake up from the cold and cry all night”

A little further on, 30-year-old shopkeeper Ashur Ali lives with his family in a concrete basement, where five of his children are shivering from the cold.

“This year the winter is very severe and we were not able to buy coal.” he said, adding that the little money he earns from his shop is no longer enough to buy fuel.. “Children wake up from the cold and cry all night until the morning. They are all sick. So far we haven’t received any help, and most of the time we don’t have enough bread.”

During a visit to Kabul this week, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said the agency was looking for exceptions to a ban on women working in aid organizations during one of the most difficult times for many Afghans.

“The Afghan winter… as everyone in Afghanistan knows, it is a heavy burden of suffering for so many families in the country during so many years of humanitarian crisis… we are seeing some consequences in the form of loss of life. ” Griffiths told Reuters.

Source: RES-IPE