HERAT: Najiba, 24, keeps a constant watch over her baby, Artiya, one of around four million children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year in Afghanistan.

After suffering a bout of pneumonia at three months old, Artiya’s condition deteriorated and his parents went from hospital to hospital trying to find help.

“I did not get proper rest or good food,” affecting her ability to produce breast milk, Najiba said at Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan.

“These days, I do not have enough milk for my baby.”

The distressed mother, who chose not to give her surname for privacy reasons, said the family earns a living from an electric supplies store run by her husband.

Najiba and her husband spent their meagre savings trying to get care for Artiya, before learning that he has a congenital heart defect.

To her, “no one can understand what I’m going through. No one knows how I feel every day, here with my child in this condition.”

“The only thing I have left is to pray that my child gets better,” she said.

John Aylieff, Afghanistan director at the World Food Programme (WFP), said women are “sacrificing their own health and their own nutrition to feed their children.”

Artiya has gained weight after several weeks at the therapeutic nutrition center in the Herat hospital, where colorful drawings of balloons and flowers adorn the walls.

Mothers such as Najiba, who are grappling with the reality of not being able to feed their children, receive psychological support.

Meanwhile, Artiya’s father is “knocking on every door just to borrow money” which could fund an expensive heart operation on another ward, Najiba said.

‘STAGGERING’ SCALE

On average, 315 to 320 malnourished children are admitted each month to the center, which is supported by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The number of cases has steadily increased over the past five years, according to Hamayoun Hemat, MSF’s deputy coordinator in Herat.

Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid, as well as drought and the economic fallout of five million Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan.

“In 2025, we’d already seen the highest surge in child malnutrition recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 21st century,” Aylieff said in Kabul.

The crisis is only set to worsen this year, he told AFP: “A staggering four million children in this country will be malnourished and will require treatment.”

“These children will die if they’re not treated.”

WFP is seeking $390 million to feed six million Afghans over the next six months, but Aylieff said the chance of getting such funds is “so bleak.”

Pledges of solidarity from around the globe, made after the Taliban government imposed its strict interpretation of Islamic law, have done little to help Afghan women, the WFP director said.

They are now “watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms,” he said.

‘NO HOPE’

In the country of more than 40 million people, there are relatively few medical centers that can help treat malnutrition.

Some families travel hundreds of kilometers (miles) to reach Herat hospital as they lack health care facilities in their home provinces.

Wranga Niamaty, a nurse team supervisor, said they often receive patients in the “last stage” where there is “no hope” for their survival.

Still, she feels “proud” for those she can rescue from starvation.

In addition to treating the children, the nursing team advises women on breastfeeding, which is a key factor in combating malnutrition.

Single mothers who have to work as cleaners or in agriculture are sometimes unable to produce enough milk, often due to dehydration, nurse Fawzia Azizi said.

The clinic has been a lifesaver for Jamila, a 25-year-old mother who requested her surname not be used out of privacy concerns.

Jamila’s eight-month-old daughter has Down’s syndrome and is also suffering from malnutrition, despite her husband sending money back from Iran where he works.

Wrapped in a floral veil, Jamila said she fears for the future: “If my husband is expelled from Iran, we will die of hunger.”