01/28/2023 4:19 pm (act. 01/28/2023 4:19 pm)
Afghanistan is experiencing one of its coldest winters in decades ©APA/AFP
More than 150 people have already died in Afghanistan as a result of the cold snap. As the Ministry of Disaster Management in Kabul announced on Saturday, the death toll has risen to at least 166 since the cold snap began more than two weeks ago. In addition, around 100 homes were destroyed or damaged. Nearly 80,000 animals also died in the cold, an important source of food and income for many Afghans.
Temperatures in Afghanistan have dropped to minus 33 degrees since January 10th. There are also heavy snowfalls, ice storms and power outages. According to Afghan meteorologists, this winter is “by far the coldest in years”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 17 people died this week alone in a single village in the northeastern province of Badakhshan due to “acute respiratory infections”. According to the WHO, the area is difficult to access for rescuers due to difficult weather conditions.
In a statement released via video, a ministry official also cited fires and leaks in gas heaters used by Afghan families to heat their homes as causes of death.
Afghanistan is isolated internationally because of its radical Islamic Taliban government. Even before the cold wave, the country was already experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than half of its 38 million inhabitants do not have a secure food supply, three million children are at risk of malnutrition.
International humanitarian aid to Afghanistan was further reduced following the Taliban’s decision on December 24 to ban women from humanitarian aid work. Later, an exception was made for women in the health sector, and some NGOs resumed their work.