The death toll from the cold snap that has been affecting Afghanistan for the past two weeks has risen to more than 120, the Taliban have confirmed, after authorities confirmed that temperatures as low as minus 34 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) had been recorded in some parts of the country.
The spokesman of the National Disaster Management Authority, Safiullah Rahimi, has indicated in declarations to the German news agency DPA that more than 50 houses have also been totally or partially destroyed by the cold wave, while more than 70,000 animals have died because of the inclemency.
Afghanistan’s Meteorological Department has indicated that the lowest temperatures have been recorded in the province of Ghor (center), amid a wave of cold that has left about 5,000 children hospitalized during the last week, according to data released Monday by the Afghan Ministry of Health.
Also, the capital, Kabul, home to some 5.5 million people, has suffered a blackout due to Uzbekistan’s suspension of electricity exports to Afghanistan, which has led the Taliban authorities to demand Tashkent to comply with the supply agreement.
In addition, 120 people have been killed and more than 150 injured by floods over the past month in the Central Asian country, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management, as reported by the Afghan television channel Tolo TV.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Monday that Afghanistan «faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with a very real risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe». In this regard, he stressed that 28.3 million people, about two-thirds of the population, will need urgent humanitarian assistance in 2023 to «survive.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
