Feature: Afghan kids forced to make money on war-torn city streets

It might be inconceivable in some countries, but in insurgency-plagued Afghanistan, it is commonplace for war victims' young children to take to the streets for their family's daily bread.

Eight-year-old Dilawar is one of the hundreds of thousands of such children robbed of their childhood by the ongoing conflict. His father was murdered by insurgents, forcing him from a life of young innocence onto the mean, war-torn streets for survival.

"I work every day on the streets from dawn to dusk to earn some money to support my family," the young boy said softly.

Carrying a bag full of shoe brushes and cream, the working boy uttered that he usually polishes between 20 to 30 shoes on the streets and earns around 200 to 300 afghanis (between 3 and 4.5 U.S. dollars) every day.

Revealing the torturous traumas undeserved by anyone, let alone a child so young, the boy whimpered that the war had claimed the life of his father 18 months ago and since then his life as a regular, happy-go-lucky child had been stripped away from him.

Now, as the main breadwinner of his four-member family, young Dilawar said despondently that his mother and two sisters, aged six and four years, are depending on him.

Recalling his sweet childhood memories, the innocent lad muttered that he used to enjoy playing football with his friends after coming home from school, but the death of his father in a bomb blast had robbed him completely of everything he had once enjoyed.

"I played football with my friends Azim, Ahmad, Fawad and Najib everyday after school, but these days all I do is work," Dilawar, who abandoned school in grade two, said tearfully, wishing his father was still alive so he could study and play like he used to.

Suffering from malnutrition, the emaciated child also said that rising prices for food and groceries was adding to his already incalculable miseries.

"I like to buy fruit, biscuits, mutton and ice cream but the prices are now beyond my reach," the boy said.

Dilawar is not alone. The lingering war and civil strife in Afghanistan have rendered countless innocent children orphaned and forced to work on the streets for survival.

Like Dilawar, masses of children can be seen working on the streets in Kabul and other Afghan cities, to earn a crust for their families living in the slums.

Jamil, 10, sells shopping bags in a vegetable market in Kabul to earn money for his family in Kabul city.

"My meager income is better than no income," Jamil shrugged, whispering, "I have no choice but to work to support my family." Endit