Afghans beg: Don’t forget our own hell

DESPERATE Afghans last night begged: “Don’t forget about us.” Residents say they have felt completely ignored by the outside world since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Millions are at risk of starvation while lawless Taliban soldiers are said to be murdering former interpreters and their families.

A dad of four, 31, an interpreter for UK forces in Helmand from 2009 to 2014, was captured by the Taliban on the way to the airport while trying to flee. He was badly beaten and arrested but later released.

He now says he cannot return to his home village in Kunduz as the Taliban are dragging ex-colleagues out of their homes to kill them.

The man, who cannot be named for safety reasons, said: “Every moment is risky, every moment they are taking lives. My colleagues who supported UK forces in Afghanistan got killed by the Taliban.”

An Afghan woman has hidden in Kabul for nearly six months with five members of her family who have only dry bread to eat.

If they leave their hiding place, they will be killed for working as journalists and soldiers for the Afghan Government before the Taliban takeover last August.

The number of children admitted to hospitals with malnutrition doubled from 2,407 in August 2021 to 4,214 in December.