150 Afghans Succumb to Cold and Hunger, Taliban Says
Bitter cold and hunger killed 150 refugees, mostly children, this week in camps filled with people fleeing the effects of Afghanistan’s devastating drought, a Taliban minister said Thursday.
The refugees died in the past three days in camps in Baghlan province in the north, Maulvi Abdul Raqib, the Taliban regime’s minister for refugees, told a news conference.
“Our people are dying. We appeal to the international community, especially the Islamic countries, to help,” he said in Kabul, the capital.
About 100,000 refugees are living in six northern and northwestern provinces, U.N. Afghanistan operations spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said in neighboring Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s worst drought in 30 years has affected 60% of the nation’s 22 million people. More than 500 people died recently in the western province of Herat.
Several countries, including the United States, have responded to U.N. appeals for aid, Bunker said.
But the U.N. on Thursday renewed its appeal for more than $220 million to avert famine.
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