Heavy Cold Kills 166 In Afghanistan

A wave of bitterly cold weather is sweeping through Afghanistan, which has caused the deaths of at least 166 people, an official said on Saturday.

Afghanistan has been frozen by temperatures as low as minus 33 degrees Celsius (minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit) since January 10.

The disaster management ministry said on Saturday the death toll had risen by 88 over the past week and now stood at 166.

Some 100 homes were destroyed or damaged and nearly 80,000 livestock also died in the cold.

Aid agencies had earlier warned that more than half of Afghanistan's civilians were facing hunger, while nearly four million children were suffering from malnutrition.