Kamila is almost 3 years old, but she weighs just 11 pounds (5 kilograms). Her wrinkled skin sags off her skeletal limbs and stretches around her distended belly.
Kamila has been malnourished for eight months now, says her grandmother Bilqis, as she attempts to soothe her in a sparse hospital ward filled with other emaciated children in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.
Too weak to cry, the little girl rubs her ears in pain.
"Her mother is sick and we are poor people," Bilqis says. "She tried to breastfeed her but had no milk to give."
Kamila's family are among millions of Afghans struggling to survive severe food shortages during a harsh winter and economic crash. Rights organizations are pleading for more foreign aid, arguing the most vulnerable groups -- women and children -- are suffering.
