David Loyn David Loyn

Afghanistan is starving to death and there is nothing the West can do

(Photo: Getty)

The scale of the human tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan is hard to comprehend. The economy has collapsed, some 20 million people face death by starvation and international agencies like the World Food Programme have already doubled their estimate of what they will need just to keep people alive.

They are appealing now for a staggering $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion) to get food stocks into position and keep a pipeline of supplies into the country through the winter. There have been reports of parents selling their babies and there are scenes of daily humiliation as people pile up household goods in the street to try to sell for scraps of food. The banks have hardly any cash to circulate and the Taliban have added to an acute liquidity crisis by banning the use of foreign currency. In many parts of Afghanistan, Pakistani Rupees have been commonly used until now.

Faced by this looming catastrophe there have been appeals to the United States to make cash available.

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