At least 70 people have died in a week due to a cold wave that is hitting Afghanistan, a country already facing a very serious humanitarian crisis, the Taliban’s de facto authorities announced on Wednesday.
In Kabul and other provinces of the impoverished Southeast Asian country, temperatures fell well below freezing after January 10. In the central Gore province, the lowest temperature was reported at -33 °C over the weekend of January 14 and 15. In Baghdadi province, thermometers showed -28 °C.
“This winter is by far the coldest in recent years,” Mohammad Nasim Muradi, head of Afghanistan’s meteorological service, told AFP. “We expect the cold wave to continue for another week or more,” he warned.
According to the disaster management ministry, at least 70 people died after the cold wave began. 70,000 cattle, animals of critical importance to the country, were also lost.
In the provinces, homeless families huddle around fires, while in the snow-covered capital, the more fortunate gather around traditional stoves burning firewood or charcoal.
In areas in the central and northern parts of the country, heavy snowfall closed roads, according to visuals uploaded to social networking sites.
The cold wave adds to the enormous difficulties that the country, already facing one of the most serious humanitarian crises on the planet, has to overcome. More than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million people face acute food insecurity. Three million children are at risk of malnutrition.
The Afghan economy, already in dire straits from decades of war, plunged into an even deeper crisis as billions in international aid were cut after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
The distribution of humanitarian aid by NGOs has also been called into question after the Taliban’s decision on December 24 to ban women from working for them. Major non-governmental organisations suspended their activities in protest of this decision, which applies to all fields except one, that of health.
Some have resumed their activity in this field in the last few days in some provinces after securing assurances from the authorities that their workers will be able to work safely and unhindered.
