From Muhammad Afiff Md Adnan
KABUL, Nov 22 (NNN-Bernama) — As temperatures dip below zero degrees Celsius here, Afghans are now struggling to prepare for the extreme winter to come.
Apart from poverty and a lack of food supply, thousands of residents at a war refugee camp in the Adimazar area here, located 12 kilometres from the city centre of Kabul, are also facing a shortage of ‘Levas Zemastani’, a Pashto term for winter clothing.
Extreme temperatures that can reach up to negative 15 degrees Celsius has also been said to have caused the refugees to suffer from hypothermia and death due to not being able to withstand the cold.
However, a lively atmosphere was created at the refugee camp when the Muslim Care Malaysia (MCM) delegation arrived with 700 sweaters in conjunction with its humanitarian aid mission in the troubled nation.
MCM president Zulkifli Wahijan said the sweaters provided to adults, children and infants at the camp were to help protect them from the harsh weather conditions to come.
“Most of those in the camp come from various other provinces in Afghanistan, who moved here as their original homes were destroyed by foreign troops,” he said.
“It is understood that a total of 230 families live here in houses built with clay and plastic roofs, which will definitely make it difficult for them to survive during the winter,” he said.
Afghanistan continues to be in turmoil after the Taliban overthrew Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s government following the withdrawal of US troops from the country after 20 years – in mid-August.
The Malaysian government is still waiting and watching the developments and has yet to give recognition to the new Taliban-led Afghan government.
— NNN-BERNAMA