‘On the brink’: drought and politics leave Afghans fighting famine

Aid collapse after Taliban took control means just 2% of people have enough to eat, UN says

In his seven decades, Mehrajuddin has been a police commander, a fighter for the mujahideen, a district governor and a prosecutor, and even briefly worked in Europe. Until this year, he has never struggled to feed his family.

Now they have just one meal a day, hard discs of stale bread soaked in water until they soften to mush. All the family are starving," he says bluntly as he waits at a food distribution centre in Kabul for a handout of lentils, rice, flour and oil. I even worry about dying, because if it happens tomorrow, how will my family pay for my funeral?"