Afghanistan hunger crisis intensifies as millions left without food aid

Afghanistan’s dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on little more than weak tea and bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.Key points14 million Afghans face acute hunger, with only one in nine receiving WFP food assistance.Child malnutrition has reached record levels in 12 provinces, with children under two hardest hit.Funding shortages have forced WFP to scale back lifesaving nutrition programmes nationwide.The agency needs $500 million before winter to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis.In a new alert on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that one in three Afghans is now in the grip of acute food insecurity and that it lacks the resources to contain the deepening crisisToday, 12 provinces have now reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, the highest number ever recorded. Conflict, widespread unemployment, soaring food prices, shrinking humanitarian funding and disruption to supply routes are fuelling the crisis, WFP said. Forced returnsThe return of six million Afghans pushed back mainly from Pakistan and Iran since September 2023, has increased the strain on the country’s already fragile economy. “In the past ...