The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that Afghanistan is facing a worsening child malnutrition crisis, with funding shortages forcing life-saving nutrition and food programmes to scale back at a time when they are needed most.

According to WFP, child acute malnutrition has reached critical levels in 12 provinces, including Helmand, Kandahar, Baghlan and Logar, with the situation expected to deteriorate through October. The agency said nearly one-third of Afghanistan’s provinces are now experiencing critical levels of child malnutrition—the highest number on record.

WFP estimates that 3.7 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year unless urgent action is taken.

“Feeble cries of malnourished babies haunt the health clinics of Afghanistan as worried mothers—many themselves weakened by hunger—bring their children, desperate for treatment,” said WFP Country Director in Afghanistan John Aylieff. “We are witnessing the next generation waste away in spite of this being harvest time – a time of plenty.  This is not simply heartbreaking—it is unacceptable.”

The agency attributed the worsening situation to a combination of conflict, unemployment, high food prices, reduced humanitarian funding, supply disruptions caused by conflict in the Middle East, and the prolonged closure of the Pakistan border, which limited access to nutrition supplies.

WFP said 142 health centres closed in 2025 due to funding cuts, leaving more than 13,000 children without nutrition treatment, while nearly one million mothers and children missed essential nutrition services for five months this year.

“Afghanistan is already gripped by one of the world’s most severe and unrelenting malnutrition crises, and these staggering numbers could climb even higher. This crisis could eclipse all previous projections and condemn countless more children and mothers to preventable death,” added Aylieff. 

The agency called for an urgent $540 million over the next six months to maintain and expand nutrition programmes, warning that without immediate support, the crisis could claim more lives and reach unprecedented levels.

Greek authorities have charged a 26-year-old Afghan man over the death of a British charity worker whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens.

The victim, 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross from Edinburgh, Scotland, had travelled to Greece in late June to carry out volunteer work supporting refugees and vulnerable communities.

She was reported missing after friends and family became concerned when they received unusual text messages from her phone that investigators now believe may have been sent after her death to delay the discovery of the crime.

The accused, Sharif Ahmadzai, is a professional boxer who arrived in Greece as an unaccompanied Afghan refugee, a minor, in 2016. He later married an American aid worker, and together they established a Christian ministry that provided assistance to refugees in Athens. Ross is believed to have known the couple through their humanitarian work.

Greek prosecutors have charged Ahmadzai with murder, robbery and weapons-related offences. According to investigators, CCTV footage allegedly shows him wheeling a large suitcase through Athens before abandoning it in a derelict building in the Kypseli district, where Ross’s body was discovered by a homeless man on July 18.

Authorities also allege he used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw about €10,000 after her death.

Ahmadzai has admitted disposing of Ross’s body and using her bank cards but denies killing her. He claims he found her already dead in the apartment where she had been staying.

Investigators, however, say forensic evidence and CCTV footage contradict key parts of his account. Initial forensic findings suggest Ross may have died from asphyxiation, although further toxicology tests are still pending.

Investigators say Ahmadzai’s wife played a key role in the investigation after becoming suspicious of his behaviour. She reportedly contacted police after tracking his location to Ross’s apartment on the night she disappeared and later handed officers cash and other items she believed may have been linked to the case.

Greek authorities continue to investigate the motive for the killing, with robbery and a possible confrontation among the lines of inquiry. The case has shocked both Greece and the United Kingdom, where Ross is being remembered for her humanitarian work and commitment to helping refugees.

A U.S. federal court has ordered the State Department to process travel documents for the spouses and children of several Afghan asylees, ruling that the Trump administration’s travel restrictions cannot be used to prevent them from reuniting with their families in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga directed the State Department to issue travel documents within 15 days for the families of five Afghan plaintiffs whose relatives had already received approval to enter the United States. The court also ordered the department to reassess the eligibility of other family members without applying the travel ban and to provide regular updates until the reunifications are completed.

The lawsuit, filed in Virginia, was brought by a group of Afghan refugees who had supported U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan. They argued that the administration’s travel restrictions unlawfully blocked their spouses and children from joining them, despite existing legal protections for asylees and refugees.

The ruling comes amid ongoing legal challenges to U.S. travel restrictions affecting Afghan nationals. The State Department had not indicated by Monday whether it would appeal the decision.

Advocates for the plaintiffs welcomed the decision, saying many Afghan families have spent years separated after fleeing Afghanistan and that some relatives remain stranded in third countries or have been forced to return to Afghanistan while awaiting permission to travel.