Agency Report

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.

On some days, it is all her family, and the others who have joined the queue, 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 United Nations 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 organised by a Kabul university professor.