Afghans celebrate heaviest snowfall in three years

Residents in the capital Kabul and elsewhere in the country celebrated the heaviest snowfall in three years after some 20 centimetres of snow fell overnight, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Thursday. The snow was welcomed by residents and Taliban officials alike, hoping it would replenish the country’s diminished water resources, exhausted by the worst drought to hit the country in 30 years. In addition to 21 years of war, the drought has further weakened the Afghan country, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes in search of food and water. Taliban deputy finance minister Arifullah Arif said: “We need the snowfall very badly or we will have another year of very bad drought,” the report said. Meanwhile, cold weather this week continues to play havoc with the lives thousands of IDPs without food or proper shelter in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, taking the lives of at least 110 Afghans in the early morning hours of Tuesday and putting many more at risk. Spokesperson for the Office for the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan Stephanie Bunker told IRIN on Thursday: “The snow is of course welcome... but at the same time, the severe cold that accompanies it is life threatening.”