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1st LD Writethru: Snowfall, freezing weather kill 27 children in northern Afghan province

Xinhua, January 26, 2017 Adjust font size:

A total of 27 children have lost their lives due to snowfall and freezing weather in Darzab district of the northern Jauzjan province over the past couple of days, district governor Rahmatullah Hashar said on Thursday.

"A total of 27 innocent children have lost their precious lives due to heavy snowfall and freezing weather in Darzab district as roads connected villages to health centers have been blocked due to heavy snowfall," Hashar told Xinhua.

The snowfall which begun few days ago in some places is more than 50 cm and it had made it difficult for the villagers to travel around.

In addition to snowfall and freezing weather the presence of anti-government militants in parts of Darzab district has also made the living condition tough for the locals to move freely from their village to health center, the official asserted.

Countless of Afghans in addition to having security problems are also facing food insecurity in parts of the conflict-hit country.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has appealed for 550 million U.S. dollars for Afghanistan to support the vulnerable people in the war-ravaged country in 2017.

For Afghanistan's 30 million population, around 1.57 million people are reportedly food insecure, with 1 million children suffering from malnutrition. Enditem