Afghanistan's anguish: Humanitarian crisis looms in wake of Taliban takeover
CBC
The searing cries of malnourished infants echo through the halls of a busy children's hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city.
The babies writhe in their beds in obvious discomfort as tubes for the IV drips that feed them protrude from their fragile hands. The glazed eyes of the smallest child, fed through a line into her nose, roll back at times as she fights to stay alive.
Meanwhile, their mothers keep watch, the toll of their babies' suffering — and their own powerlessness to stop it — etched across their faces.
"I can't provide enough food for my children," said Nasima, a 37-year-old mother whose own hunger leaves her unable to produce enough breast milk. There's no way her family can afford formula.
"I hope someone will help me," she said.
But in Afghanistan, holding onto hope can be impossible.
Outside these walls, Taliban fighters toting AK-47s patrol the entrance to the hospital compound. It's a metaphor for the country's perilous state. Many say Taliban rule means better security, now that the bloody insurgency is over.