Three hundred dead, more casualties feared in Afghanistan freeze

ActionAid plans to deliver food and blankets for 28,000
Afghanistan is experiencing what the UN says is the worst winter weather in 30 years, with heavy snowfall and temperatures falling below -20 degrees Celsius. So far 300 people are reported to have died.

ActionAid Afghanistan spokesperson Mudasser Hussain Siddiqui said that concerns were growing for people living outside urban centres. “Some villages remain cut off, and information on the number of casualties and scale of the disaster is still coming in.

“At this stage, the most urgent needs appear to be food, fuel for heating and fodder for animals. We know from experience that when people lose their livestock it takes a long time to recover. It’s much better to invest in providing fodder now.”

ActionAid conducted a needs assessment from 15 to 21 January in five districts of Jawzjan province. Provincial and district-level staff travelled to five districts of the province and met with members of the community development councils and other village elders.

Additionally discussions were held with provincial government authorities who also requested a response to the deteriorating situation.

The ActionAid team found that around 4,350 local families had been affected by the heavy snowfall and 34 people, most of them children, had died. An estimated 11,140 livestock had been lost.

Pending funding, ActionAid plans to distribute immediate relief to 179 villages, reaching a total of 28,000 people in the Darzab, Questhpa, Khamiyab, Murdian, and Khawaja Do Koh districts of Jawzjan province. The supplies will include blankets, warm clothing for children and basic foods such as flour, oil, sugar and pulses.

Siddiqui concluded: “Aid is urgently needed. The Afghan people are used to hardship and are able to cope with extremes that many others would find almost impossible. But this weather is exceptional in its severity and people’s ability to cope is being cruelly tested.”