Number of Afghan children going hungry on rise since Taliban takeover

dpa Islamabad The number of children in Afghanistan not getting enough to eat has increased by 3.3 million since the Taliban takeover of the country in Aug...

dpaIslamabadThe number of children in Afghanistan not getting enough to eat has increased by 3.3 million since the Taliban takeover of the country in August, according to an analysis by Save the Children.As of the end of November, 98 per cent of the population did not have enough to eat - an alarming jump compared with the 81 per logged before August 15, the London-based British charity reports based on data from UN World Food Programme (WFP).Afghanistan is facing its worst food crisis on record. The organization expects 14 million children to face potentially life-threatening levels of hunger this winter.With Afghanistan’s aid-dependent health care system on the brink of collapse, Save the Children warned that many severely malnourished children are unable to access the specialist treatment they need to survive. More than half of the population are resorting to drastic measures to feed their families - a five-fold increase from before the time the Taliban gained control of the country, according to the WFP.The crisis in Afghanistan comes at a time when the world is facing its biggest hunger crisis of the 21st century, with an estimated 5.7 million children younger than 5 on the brink of starvation across the globe, the organization added.A deadly combination of COVID-19, conflicts, and the impacts of climate change have pushed hunger and malnutrition levels to a record global high.The international humanitarian organizations warn that, without urgent action, the world could see tens of thousands of children starving to death, reversing decades of progress.