UN: 19.2 million Afghans face severe food insecurity this winter

According to the United Nations, 19.2 million people in Afghanistan will face severe food insecurity this winter.

Of these, nearly 5 million people are estimated to reach emergency levels of hunger.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the food crisis could worsen further during the harsh winter from November to April, with the heaviest toll falling on children and poor families.

OCHA's spokesperson in Afghanistan, Olga Cherevko, said that in September and October alone, 15.9 million Afghan citizens had food conditions at crisis level or worse, of whom 3.4 million were in emergency conditions.

She warned that if aid does not arrive in time, millions of people will fall into severe crisis.

International aid has declined since the Taliban returned to power, while natural disasters, conflict and economic hardship have further complicated the humanitarian crisis.