'Children are going to die', UN agency warns as Afghanistan verges on collapse

The UN food agency needs up to $220m a month to partially feed the nearly 23 million vulnerable people as winter nears

Children look at pigeons outside the Kart-e-Sakhi shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. Picture: AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz

Millions of Afghans, including children, could die of starvation unless urgent action is taken to pull Afghanistan back from the brink of collapse, a senior United Nations official warned, calling for frozen funds to be freed for humanitarian efforts.

World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley told Reuters that 22.8 million people - more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million population - were facing acute food insecurity and "marching to starvation" compared to 14m just two months ago.