The deaths of 110 displaced Afghans near the city of Herat in Western Afghanistan due to cold has been confirmed by the UN, although the death toll is likely to be considerably higher. Pakistani newspapers yesterday, quoting Taliban officials, put the number of dead at 504.
The majority of the victims are believed to be children and the elderly, unable to withstand extreme weather conditions including sub-zero temperatures and snow. They were among 80,000 displaced Afghans living in makeshift camps who in recent months had fled to Herat to escape the worst drought affecting Afghanistan in 30 years, and also the continuing civil war.
The UN warned that more deaths are likely due to the rapidly deteriorating situation. The massive displacement of Afghans has resulted in many thousands of internally displaced people inside Afghanistan, and also the largest flow into neighbouring Pakistan since 1992.
"It's not business as usual any more. The situation is much worse than in past years and the deterioration is rather rapid and steep," said Mr Eric de Mul, co-ordinator for UN programmes in Afghanistan.
"The bottom line is that we are looking at an extremely difficult year with many people on the move - inside Afghanistan, also many who will try to cross borders."
The latest wave of refugees to leave Afghanistan - a country from which its people have been forced to flee regularly since the Russian invasion in 1979 and subsequent civil war - began last September. Between two and three million Afghans have taken refuge in Pakistan and Iran over the past two decades, but with Pakistan currently facing severe economic hardship, it closed its borders to new refugees last November.
Jalozai camp, 30 km southeast of Peshawar in northern Pakistan, has turned into a temporary campsite where an estimated 70,000 people are sheltering under pieces of plastic crudely held up by sticks. Many children are among those struggling for survival with little to eat but bread, and scarce protection against the cold. Drinking water is in short supply and latrine facilities are non-existent.
Aid workers describe conditions at Jalozai as the worst they have ever seen. The UN is conducting urgent negotiations with the Pakistani authorities to find alternative sites to accommodate the refugees.
Already up to 18 deaths of children at Jalozai have been reported when temperatures dropped to below freezing earlier this month - the exact number is hard to establish due to conflicting reports. Cases of measles have been reported and an epidemic is feared.
During a visit to Jalozai this week, the crowds of ragged Afghans exuded utter destitution. Children caked in dust huddled under a thin covering of plastic, some without shoes. Blackened pots were being heated on burning embers in holes in the ground. One woman kneaded dough in a tin bowl surrounded by her runny-nosed children in their primitive "tent". The dusty waste outside was covered in human excrement.
"It's so cold here. We don't have enough food - only bread," said Gul Afroz, a widow from Baghlan in north-east Afghanistan whose husband was a casualty of the fighting. It is difficult for her to feed her three children as her money has almost run out since she sold her livestock and other possessions to make the journey to Pakistan. "I trust in God," she said, apparently undaunted by the grim conditions.
Despite their amazing resilience, many of the refugees are beginning to feel despair. The UN workers can only process 250 families a day, and at a meeting with relief workers earlier this week, male elders from the refugee families complained of inhumane conditions and were even seen to weep.
As one aid worker pointed out, only the extraordinarily tough nature and resilience of the Afghans has enabled them to survive as well as they have.