Afghanistan: Over 104 Killed due to Extreme Cold in 10 Days

Severe cold, floods, fires, and gas suffocation in Afghanistan have killed more than 100 people over the past 10 days.

"No less than 104 people have died in 15 districts of Afghanistan in the past 10 days due to hail, floods, fires, and gas suffocation," Shafiullah Rahimi, the spokesman for the Taliban government's Ministry of Natural Disasters, said.

"In addition to human losses, about 70,000 head of livestock died in 15 provinces in Afghanistan," Rahimi said in a statement published by the Afghan news agency "Herat News".

After the severe cold, a large number of poor families face serious problems and are unable to obtain their own food and fuel.

The Afghan Ministry of Natural Disasters said the floods destroyed 50 homes, adding that food and non-food items were distributed to 40,000 families with the help of relief organizations.

The cold winter in Afghanistan this year was described as unprecedented, while the country is facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, and the cold weather and the Taliban's ban on women's activities exacerbated this crisis.

In turn, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that thousands of livestock died in western, eastern, and northern Afghanistan due to the severe cold.

The UN office pointed out that 28 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid this year, which is an unprecedented increase compared to previous years.

The Taliban's decision to ban women from national and international NGOs severely affected the humanitarian aid process in this country.