Officials at the provincial hospital in Badakhshan say that nearly 30 children have died from malnutrition in the province since the beginning of the current solar year.

According to them, over the past five months, nearly 2,700 children under the age of five have been brought to the hospital, of whom more than 350 were diagnosed with malnutrition.

Abdul Malik Rofi, the head of the information management system at the Badakhshan Provincial Hospital, said: "We had 2,696 children under the age of five admitted, among whom 365 were suffering from malnutrition, and out of these, 26 children have died."

Several caretakers attribute poverty, destitution, and poor nutrition as the reasons behind their children's condition and call on the interim government and aid organizations to address their economic challenges.

Basira, the mother of a child suffering from malnutrition, said: "We can't afford to buy meat and nutritious food, and these shortages also exist in the village, while my husband is unemployed."

Samiya, the mother of another child who is malnourished, said: "The economic situation at home is weak, and our child does not drink milk properly; this is why he has become malnourished."

Doctors cite the lack of healthy food, limited access to healthcare centers, and inadequate counseling as the primary causes of malnutrition among children.

Ghulam Rabani Mushtaq, a doctor, said: "There is insufficient counseling, distance from clinics is also a major reason, and most of our patients are from remote districts such as Argo, Ishkashim, Ragh, and Darwaz."

The World Food Program recently reported that over three million children in Afghanistan suffer from malnutrition, and the organization has only managed to assist 1.3 million of them.