The recent spate of violence has displaced between 20,000 and 30,000 people in the south of Afghanistan, particularly in Kandahar province, which has seen heavy fighting in recent months, according to government officials and elders.

 There are also many families who have been displaced in the provinces of Farah, Badghis and Helmand.

There are accounts from some displaced families of the Taliban killing or abducting their men. However, the Taliban rejected these claims as propaganda of the intelligence agencies of the Afghan government.

Displaced families now lack food, shelter and health services.

Haji Camp is one area holding displaced families.

Bas Bibi is a displaced person who lost five children in a Taliban attack in the outskirts of Kandahar city. Now she has the responsibility of feeding an 18-member family.

“I don’t have anything here, I want help,” said Bakh Bibi, a war IDP.

Belqis is another displaced person in the same refugee camp in Kandahar. She said that twenty days ago the Taliban attacked her house and murdered her son in front of her eyes.

The government gives them food once a day.

Medics and health workers are providing other essential aid voluntarily.

“I told them (the Taliban) that I have been devastated, I had only one son, they (Taliban) asked me to give my daughter-in-law to them to marry, so we escaped at midnight,” said Bilqis, a war IDP in Kandahar.

“There are hundreds of pregnant women among them, they may give birth to the child at any moment, but there are no health services to help them here or to take them to hospitals,” said Sabawoon, a doctor in Kandahar.

Shukria, in the same refugee camp, says that the Taliban arrested her husband 20 days ago in Spin Boldak. He was earning only 4000 Afs per month as a watchman.

“I have seven children, they are asking about their father, how can I bring back their father?” said Shukria.

“The Taliban have done no work for the people, nor have they built a bridge or provided drinking water, they killed our youth and our young women became widows,” said Nadia, a war IDP.

According to the refugee department, the total number of people displaced in Kandahar is estimated at 20,000 families. But local elders have said that the number is more than 30,000.

From 17 districts in Kandahar, only Takhtapol district is under government control. The Taliban have also captured some parts of Kandahar city.