Parents selling children shows desperation of Afghanistan

By ELENA BECATOROS
Associated Press

SHEDAI CAMP, Afghanistan (AP) — A woman displaced by war and drought in Afghanistan is fighting to save her daughter. Aziz Gul’s husband sold their 10-year-old into marriage without telling his wife, taking a down payment so he could feed his family of five children. He told her that without that money, they would all starve. Afghanistan’s destitute are increasingly turning to such desperate decisions as the country spirals downwards into a vortex of poverty. The international Red Cross says the number of Afghans facing acute food shortages has increased 37% since April, while 3.2 million children under 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year.