A dry wind stirred up dust as Ghulam Mohiddin and his wife, Nazo, approached the small tomb where all three of their children now rest. One by one, they pointed out the graves: Rahmat, just a year old; Koatan, seven months; and Faisal Ahmad, barely three months old.
The couple said each of their children died from malnutrition.
“Can you imagine what it’s like to lose three babies?” Nazo asked, her voice breaking. “One moment your child is in your arms, and the next they’re gone. Every day I pray an angel will bring my children back to me.”
Ghulam and Nazo, both from Afghanistan, live in the Sheidaee settlement outside Herat. Their meager income comes from peeling walnut shells, yet they often go to bed hungry. Despite their suffering, they say they receive no assistance from either the Taliban authorities or public welfare groups.
“When I hear my children cry from hunger, it feels like my whole body is burning,” Ghulam said. “Like I’m being cut apart from head to toe.”
Their children’s deaths are not officially recorded, but cases like theirs illustrate a grim reality: Afghanistan is facing a devastating hunger crisis. According to the United Nations, child malnutrition and hunger-related deaths are reaching unprecedented levels.
The situation has worsened sharply this year as international aid has dried up. The United States, once Afghanistan’s largest donor, has halted nearly all funding, while other countries and organizations have also cut or reduced support.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says multiple donors have shifted priorities to other global emergencies, and the Taliban government’s policies have further discouraged international assistance.
For families like Ghulam and Nazo, the consequences are measured in small, silent graves.
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