Warning: This film shows distressing scenes of children in Afghanistan in their final moments. More than 1,000 children under the age of five are dying in Afghanistan from preventable diseases, according to charity Unicef. Foreign funding to Afghanistan has been frozen since the country was retaken by the Taliban in 2021. Delivering aid from charities has also been a struggle, with women banned from helping them.
In Afghanistan, people are going to desperate lengths to survive the second winter since the Taliban took control, including selling their daughters. The UN has said a humanitarian "catastrophe" is now unfolding in the country. When the Taliban took over in August 2021, foreign funds flowing into Afghanistan were frozen, triggering an economic collapse. Now, families are taking desperate measures to survive, including selling organs and sedating their hungry children.
Afghanistan remains one most unsafe places for women to live. Last year official numbers confirmed 3,500 cases of violence against women, and it’s feared the numbers will grow as the security situation in the country deteriorates. Shakila Zareen, 25, is one of the rare survivors. She was forced into child marriage, raped and underwent 22 operations after she was shot in the face by her husband. Now she is using her voice to advocate for other women as she recovers.
Hundreds of Afghan children are risking their lives to smuggle sweets and cigarettes into neighbouring countries. They're hiding under lorries to cross national borders in the hope they'll be able to get money for their families in exchange for these and other small, saleable items.
More than a million children are at risk in Afghanistan - with malnutrition and diseases like measles and tuberculosis causing deaths. Before the Taliban takeover in August, foreign funds to the government ran the country's healthcare system. BBC correspondent Yogita Limaye reports from former frontlines in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, girls over 12 years old are not going to school. In March last year, the Taliban had promised to re-open some high schools for girls but then cancelled the move on the day they were due to return. The Taliban government says the ban is temporary. But despite the risk, a few secret schools are still open. Meanwhile at least 124 people have died in freezing temperatures in the past fortn
More than 220 female Afghan judges are in hiding due to fear of retribution under Taliban rule. Most have passed judgement in cases involving violence against women. The men they sent to prison in the past are now threatening to kill them. As some of the most powerful and prominent women in the country, they are known public figures. Six former female judges spoke to the BBC from secret locations across Afghanistan.
At least 124 people have died in freezing temperatures in Afghanistan in the past fortnight, Taliban officials say. About 70,000 livestock had also perished in what is the coldest winter in a decade, a State Ministry for Disaster Management spokesman said. Many aid agencies suspended operations in recent weeks after the Taliban banned Afghan women from working for non-governmental organisations. A Taliban minister said despite the deaths, the edict would not be changed.
The war may be over in Afghanistan, but hunger is the new threat. There are fears that millions are on the brink of famine in the country, with hospitals overwhelmed by the pandemic, drought and conflict. The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee has warned that a million children under the age of five could die this winter. In total, 22 million people - more than half the population - currently do not have enough to eat, it said.