The vast numbers of Afghans displaced by the war in their country rarely makes the headlines despite the vast numbers of people involved. The UNHCR presently estimates that 235,000 people are destitute in Afghanistan and in need of aid and protection.

Recently while in Kabul I visited a camp on the outskirts of the city were over 900 families from the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar were living with little or no support. They were mostly farmers who had fled their villages when they had become battlefields between NATO forces and the Taliban.

On the brink of starvation the children were particularly vulnerable to many potentially fatal illnesses. Many in the camp were suffering serious injuries as a result of bombing and shelling. Their most immediate concern was the approaching Winter which will see several feet of snow and temperatures drop as low as minus fifteen. Though living a miserable existence it could be argued that they were luckier than most. They were at least camped on the edge of a functioning city. The majority of Afghanistan's refugees are in sparsely populated areas way beyond the reach of aid organisations and the media. If thousands freeze and starve this winter it will leave a legacy of bitterness that will feed the insurgency like nothing else.

To add to this the World Food Programme is now predicting a famine in the region which could see one in four Afghans starve unless 95,000 tons of food aid is successfully delivered to those who need it most. With the deteriorating security situation in the country the work of NGOs is becoming steadily more difficult so predictions of a humanitarian disaster in the coming months seems all the more real and frightening.

Words and images by Guy Smallman. To see more of Guy's work click here