Despair in Afghanistan: A Mother's Heart-Wrenching Loss Amidst Hunger Crisis

Sun Sep 28 2025 23:23:33 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In the face of an unprecedented hunger crisis in Afghanistan, Ghulam and Nazo Mohiddin mourn the devastating loss of their three children to malnutrition. Their story sheds light on the dire situation facing families across the nation, where food scarcity and governmental challenges compound the suffering of its youngest citizens. Spaces intended for playgrounds are instead filled with graves, marking a silent tragedy unfolding in Sheidaee.

The Mohiddin family's heart-wrenching story illustrates the stark realities of child malnutrition in Afghanistan, where three of their children have starved to death amidst a hunger crisis. With over three million Afghan children at risk of malnutrition and the situation worsened by reduced international aid, the community faces traumatic loss and despair. The plight of families like the Mohiddins emphasizes the urgent need for humanitarian aid as winter approaches.

Gusts of wind blew dust up off the ground as Ghulam Mohiddin and his wife Nazo walked towards the graveyard where all their children are buried.

They showed us the graves of the three boys they lost in the past two years – one-year-old Rahmat, seven-month-old Koatan and most recently, three-month-old Faisal Ahmad.

All three suffered from malnutrition, say Ghulam and Nazo.

Can you imagine how painful it's been for me to lose three children? One minute there's a baby in your arms, the next minute they are empty, says Nazo.

I hope every day that angels would somehow put my babies back in our home.

There are days the couple go without food. They break walnut shells for a living in the Sheidaee settlement just outside the city of Herat in western Afghanistan and receive no help from the Taliban government or from NGOs.

Watching helplessly as my children cried out of hunger, it felt like my body was erupting in flames. It felt like someone was cutting me into half with a saw from my head to my feet, said Ghulam.

The deaths of their children are not recorded anywhere, but it's evidence of a silent wave of mortality engulfing Afghanistan's youngest, as the country is pushed into what the UN calls an unprecedented crisis of hunger.

Over three million children are at risk, as the World Food Programme highlights an unprecedented increase in malnutrition rates.

With the closure of food assistance programs due to international political dynamics and government policies, families like the Mohiddins face daily trials in their fight for survival.

Their story is just one among millions in Afghanistan, where the situation is exacerbated by sanctions, economic collapse, and the effects of climate change.

As winter approaches, the urgency to act is paramount, with humanitarian organizations warning of impending disaster unless further international aid is provided.