UN warns that 6m people in Afghanistan face the risk of famine

The UN has warned all member states that six million people in Afghanistan face the risk of famine.

In a global warning, the intergovernmental organisation warned that two thirds of Afghans are facing severe hunger and are in urgent need of aid, reports ITV.

Four decades of war, natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic have entrenched the need for humanitarian assistance.

In the summer of 2021, a national drought was declared, a year later floods killed at least 20 people and an earthquake killed more than 1,000.

In addition to this, the withdrawal of US and British troops in 2021 sent the humanitarian situation in the country spiralling.

An inquiry by British MPs found that the UK’s withdrawal was a disaster and that the mismanagement of the evacuation meant that the Taliban swiftly took the country.

This has been exacerbated by the worst winter the country has faced in 15 years, as well as a lack of food and fuel.

Displaced persons in camps on the outskirts of Kabul endure temperatures of minus 18 degrees, the report says.

In one hospital in Kabul, there is an increase of 800 patients a day, many of them are children with Severe Acute Malnutrition because their parents cannot afford to feed them.

The World Food Programme has said that 90 per cent of people in Afghanistan face insufficient food consumption.

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