Aid cuts and inflation deepen hunger in Afghanistan

Cuts in international aid and rising food prices have deepened hunger and malnutrition in Afghanistan.

John Aylieff, WFP (World Food Programme) country director for Afghanistan, has said that nearly 19 million people will face life-threatening levels of hunger in the coming months. According to him, this figure is about 40 percent of the country's total population.

Aylieff said acute malnutrition has reached unprecedented levels. It is estimated that next year, about 5.3 million people, including children under five and women, will need treatment for malnutrition. Due to a lack of resources, even severely malnourished women and children have not been able to receive adequate services.

All 20 beds in the malnutrition treatment ward at Kabul's Indira Gandhi Child Health Institute are full, and the hospital has been unable to admit additional patients.