KABUL — In the early hours of each morning,
Muhajira rushes in freezing temperatures to a modest bakery in the
Afghan capital to wait for warm naan bread to be distributed.
اضافة اعلان
On some days, it is all her family, and the
others who have joined the line, will eat for the day.
"If I don't bring bread from here, we
will go to bed hungry," mother of two Muhajira Amanallah told AFP on
Tuesday.
"I even thought of selling my
daughters, but I backed down and relied on God alone."
Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian
disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover in August -- when Western countries
froze international aid and access to assets held abroad.
Jobs have dried up and many government
workers have not been paid for months in the country, which was almost entirely
dependent on foreign donations under the previous US-backed government.
The
UN has warned that half the
country is threatened with food shortages.
The bread distribution launched on Saturday
is part of the Save Afghans From Hunger campaign organized by a Kabul
university professor.
At least 75 families in seven districts of
the capital, currently blanketed in snow, will receive daily naan rations for a
month.
In the queue, Nouriya stands alongside five
other women, all in the blue burqa that the Taliban encourages women in the
country to wear.
After the death of her husband she got
handouts from friends, but that has ended.
"We eat rice or soup made with carrots
and turnips ... and we put pieces of bread in it instead of meat," said
Nouriya, a mother of five.
While men and women wait for their share of
bread, children play, some wearing tattered shoes too big for them.
As the last person left the bakery, owner
Makram El-Din said: "People have lost their jobs, and they no longer have
any income. We used to use four sacks of flour a day, now we only use one and a
half."
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