Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Worsening hunger in Afghanistan is forcing families into desperate measures as unemployment, poverty and cuts to international aid deepen the country&rsquo;s humanitarian crisis, a BBC World report says. According to the report, hundreds of men, desperate for work and food, gather each morning in the dusty square of Chaghcharan, Ghor province&rsquo;s capital, hoping for a few hours&rsquo; casual labour to keep their families alive. Juma Khan, a local resident told BBC World that he has found only three days of work in the past six weeks, earning 150&ndash;200 afghani ($2.35&ndash;$3.13) . &ldquo;My children went to bed hungry three nights in a row.&rdquo; &ldquo;I live in fear that my children will die of hunger,&rdquo; he was quoted as saying. The United Nations says three in four Afghans cannot meet basic needs and about 4.7 million people are one step away from famine. Severe drought, collapsing livelihoods and steep cuts to international aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 have pushed provinces such as Ghor toward catastrophe. At the square, men scramble for stale loaves when a baker hands them out. Reporters witnessed only three hires during a two-hour period. &ldquo;I got a call saying my children hadn&#39;t eaten for two days,&rdquo; said Rabani. &ldquo;I felt like I should kill myself. But then I thought, how will that help my family?&rdquo; Families describe unbearable choices. Abdul Rashid Azimi, holding his seven-year-old twins, said he has considered selling them to feed the rest of his children. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to sell my daughters,&rdquo; he said through tears. His wife, Kayhan, said the household survives on bread soaked in hot water; teenage sons polish shoes while another son collects rubbish for cooking fuel. In another case, a father said he transferred custody of his five-year-old daughter to a relative to pay for surgery for appendicitis and a liver cyst. The arrangement raised 200,000 afghani (about $3,200); the relative agreed custody for up to five years. &ldquo;If I had money, I would never have taken this decision,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But then I thought, what if she dies without the surgery?&rdquo; Chaghcharan&rsquo;s provincial hospital shows the human cost. The neonatal unit is overcrowded; most babies are underweight and many struggle to breathe. A pair of premature twins were placed on oxygen; one died a few hours later. Nurse Fatima Husseini said there are days when as many as three infants die. Doctors say essential medicines and equipment are often unavailable and families must buy drugs privately or take sick children home because they cannot afford care. The Taliban government blames the country&rsquo;s economic collapse on the previous era and foreign withdrawal and calls for depolitizised humanitarian aid. Donors, including the United States and the United Kingdom, say Taliban restrictions on women and girls and other policy concerns have influenced funding cuts. Humanitarian agencies warn that without urgent, scaled-up assistance, more families will be forced into desperate measures and more children will die. Aid groups are calling for predictable funding and unrestricted access to reach hard-hit provinces such as Ghor.

Food rations for vulnerable families in Afghanistan are to be cut by the World Food Programme.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s deepening hunger crisis, fueled by poverty, unemployment and aid cuts, force desperate families to sell their daughters to survive starvation.

Afghan fathers sell children to survive amid deepening crisis: Report

<figure class="fr-media">ISLAMABAD: India has stepped up its engagement with Afghanistan&rsquo;s interim government, delivering 131 cartons of the tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, according to state-run Bakhtar News Agency. Each carton reportedly contains 768 doses. The Td vaccine protects against diphtheria and tetanus, with the current batch produced in August 2025 and valid until July 2028.<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/941d2999-ce05-42be-b7ea-cd3981ea5f75-Td vaccine.webp" alt="India donates 131 cartons of the Td (tetanus-diphtheria) vaccine to Afghanistan. (Photo: Bakhtar News Agency)" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic" style="text-align: left;">India donates 131 cartons of the Td (tetanus-diphtheria) vaccine to Afghanistan. (Photo: Bakhtar News Agency)</figcaption></figure>The shipment, received on Friday, follows India&rsquo;s recent donation of around 9.5 tons of anti-cancer medicines. Earlier, New Delhi also announced 20 ambulances for Afghanistan, five of which were handed over in October 2025. The growing outreach comes at a time when&nbsp;Afghanistan&rsquo;s ties with Pakistan are strained, especially over border tensions, and India&rsquo;s engagement is seen as a strategic counterbalance to Pakistan&rsquo;s influence. India also aims to limit Chinese dominance in Afghanistan through infrastructure and diplomatic presence. Pakistan had initially expected the authorities in Kabul to act decisively against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil. However, Islamabad has repeatedly <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-raises-concerns-over-indiaafghanistan-statement-rejects-afghan-ministers-remarks" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">expressed concern</a> that no effective measures were taken despite its cautions over rising cross-border terrorism. The 37th report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, issued on Feb. 4, endorsed Pakistan&rsquo;s position that Afghan territory continues to be used by terrorist groups to launch attacks. The report noted an <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/un-warns-ttp-emerging-as-significant-regional-threat-from-afghan-soil" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase in TTP attacks against Pakistan from Afghanistan</a>, leading to heightened regional tensions. It further stated that while the Afghan de facto authorities claimed no terrorist groups were operating inside the country, no UN member state supported this view. The report observed that the TTP was accorded greater operational freedom, resulting in a surge in attacks inside Pakistan. It also highlighted that Al Qaeda continued to benefit from patronage in Afghanistan and provided training and advisory support to militant groups, particularly the TTP. The group has been linked to many attacks, particularly in the latter half of 2025, contributing to heightened tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier. Last week, at least 33 people were martyred and around 169 others injured in a suicide blast at Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra during Friday prayers. Just this week, two police officers were martyred, and six others were injured in separate attacks in two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan has taken firm steps to safeguard its national security, including targeted actions against militant hideouts and stricter border management measures. Officials maintain that durable peace in the region requires concrete action against terrorist elements operating from Afghan soil.

Afghan Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi stands with his counterpart S. Jaishankar during his official visit to India on October 10, 2025. (File photo: X/Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The growing outreach comes at a time when ties between Pakistan and the Afghan interim government have faced challenges since the fall of Kabul in August 2021.


Articles tagged with "Afghanistan India ties"

Afghan fathers sell children to survive amid deepening crisis: Report

India deepens outreach to Afghanistan amid strains in Islamabad-Kabul ties

Afghan fathers sell children to survive amid deepening crisis: Report