More than 20 children in Balkh province died from pneumonia last month, which provincial health officials attribute to the extremely cold weather.

Officials noted a marked increase in pneumonia cases among children this winter, stating that 326 had been hospitalized in December.

“1,679 children were hospitalized in Qaws (December 2020) of which 326 patients suffered from pneumonia; that shows a 20 percent increase in cases,” said Nawroz Seberi, the head of the Children’s Department of the Balkh Public Health Directorate.

Late last month, Save the Children warned that more than 300,000 Afghan children face freezing winter conditions that could lead to illness, in the worst case death, without proper winter clothing and heating.

The organization’s country director in Afghanistan, Chris Nyamandi, said in a statement that while schools are closed until March in the coldest parts of the country, this is a serious blow because often the classroom is the only source of warmth for children during winter – where temperatures can plummet to below minus 27 degrees Celsius in parts of the country.

“The situation is bleak for children forced to live in camps in places like Balkh province. It is already very cold in this northern province with overnight temperatures as low as minus ten. But it will get much colder before March,” said Nyamandi last month.

“Here, and in camps in other parts of Afghanistan, plastic sheeting and the clothes they wear are often all that separates them from the freezing temperatures.

“For thousands of children the Afghan winter is a time of grim survival,” he added.

At least 36 Taliban insurgents were killed in clashes with the Afghan security forces in southern Kandahar province on Thursday, police said.

 Jamal Nasir Barikzai, a spokesman for Kandahar police told Ariana News that the clashes took place in the Bagh-e-Pul area at the outskirt of the provincial capital Kandahar city.

Barikzai said the Taliban wanted to carry out an attack on Kandahar city. He added that the Afghan forces launched an operation and thwarted the Taliban attack.

He did not provide details about the casualties of security forces.  

The Taliban has not yet commented.     

Ezatullah Bek, a member of the provincial council of Ghor, was killed in clashes with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces on Thursday, the intelligence agency said in a statement.

According to the statement, the Special Unit of the NDS attempted to arrest Bek, who was a suspect in the assassination of both Abdul Rahman Atshan, the deputy provincial council head of Ghor, and Bismillah Adil Aimaq, a local journalist.

The NDD stated: “Instead of surrendering, Ezatullah Bek opened fire on the forces involved in the operation,” and was killed in the exchange of fire.

Earlier, Ghor police told Ariana News that Ezatullah Bek was arrested following clashes with the NDS forces.

Nek Mohammad Nekzad, security director of Ghor told Ariana News that the clashes occurred on Thursday morning, in which an NDS member was killed and two bodyguards of Bek were wounded.

Bismillah Adil, a journalist and civil society activist in Ghor, was gunned down in Feroz Koh city, the center of the province, on January 1, 2021.