Dozens of homeless children in Herat, who lost their fathers to the war, welcomed food and clothing given to them by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials on Saturday.

The initiative was launched to console the orphans of the security forces of the previous government and the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate (IE).

Some families want the government to take care of the orphans, saying that the annual salaries of security forces are not paid and that they live in difficult conditions.

The local administration of Herat has prepared new clothes for these children in a bid to help them.

“The feeling of happiness should return to all the homes of Afghans and that we can have a clear and common message that our nation is no longer interested in creating orphans,” said Naeem al-Haq Haqqani, Herat’s director of information and culture.

Some of these children are the children of security forces of the former government who were killed, and some are the children of the forces of the Islamic Emirate. They each express their hatred of war and say that life without a father is difficult for them.

“We do not want anyone to be orphaned like us,” said Mohibullah, an orphan.

“Today, we would be very happy if the father was with us, on the eve of Eid, we are without a father,” said Zubair, another orphan.

“Since I lost my father, I think there is no one to support me, but I hope that the Islamic Emirate and the current government can cooperate and solve our problems,” said Wajiha, another orphan.

Some families of the victims of slain security forces claim that they have not received their salaries for the past eight months.

Abdul Tawab, the brother of a former soldier who died, said: “Someone who used to spend 10,000 afghanis monthly, unfortunately, has been cut off for 9 months. Pay at least 50 percent of the martyr’s salary.”

“I lost a young brother whose children survived, but now we cannot celebrate Eid al-Fitr,” said Mohammad Asif, the brother of a dead soldier.

Thousands of security forces from both the former government and the Islamic Emirate died in the war over the last two decades. Thousands of orphans now live in impoverished conditions.