Afghan authorities on January 26 said more than 160 people in the country had died dead due to the cold this month while many people cannot afford to buy fuel to heat their homes when the temperature drops to freezing.
Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management, said 162 people have died due to the cold weather since January 10, of which 84 have died in the past week alone.
Afghanistan is going through winter coldest in 15 years, with temperatures down to minus 34 degrees Celsius in places.
The cold weather comes at a time when Afghanistan is in the midst of a serious economic crisis.
Impact of the wave cold made worse by the limited amount of humanitarian aid being distributed in the country following the Taliban government’s order to ban women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
[Lạnh giá kéo dài tại Afghanistan khiến ít nhất 70 người thiệt mạng]
At least six major foreign aid organizations have suspended operations in Afghanistan since December 2022, after the Taliban ordered all domestic and international NGOs to block their female staff. come to work, or risk having your license revoked.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) recently said it was providing aid such as blankets, heating and shelter to some 565,700 people, “but more is needed amid a growing crisis in the world.” of the coldest in years (ongoing).”
Since the hardline Taliban government came to power in August 2021, Afghanistan fell into an economic and humanitarian crisis. The country has been ravaged by natural disasters and is entering the third year in a row of drought weather.
According to a recent UNOCHA report, an estimated 28.3 million people, or about two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to sustain their lives.
Thanh Binh (VNA/Vietnam+)