A mother in western Afghanistan faces the prospect of having to hand over her 5-year-old daughter to a man if she can’t pay off a $1,500 debt left by her husband. Siringul Musazey is trying to hold on to life with her seven children in a single-room tent in the Shahr Sabz region of Herat province. With the departure of US-led NATO forces as of Aug. 31 last year and the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, sharp reductions in international aid have aggravated the dimensions of hunger and misery in the country. According to the UN, while half the country is having difficulty obtaining food, the number of families who want to sell their children to buy bread is increasing throughout the country. Musazey spoke to Anadolu Agency about the financial problems she has. Thousands of people live in the Shahr Sabz region who had to migrate to Herat from neighboring provinces such as Badghis, Farah, and Ghor due to a drought that has worsened over the last three to four years and conflicts between the Taliban and the previous government. Musazey and her family are among them. If Musazey cannot pay off the $1,500 (157,810 Afghanis) debt left by her husband, she will have to give her daughter Saliha to the payee. Immigrating to the region from Badghis three years ago with her husband, five girls, and two boys, Musazey is now struggling to survive with her family in a tent that offers no protection from the cold and takes in water when it rains. She and her children sleep at night under thick duvets, trying to avoid the danger of frostbite. “It gets very cold in the evenings. My hands and arms hurt too. I am sick and cold,” she said. The family, who does not even have a stove for heating, has almost nothing to eat. Generally, they eat dry bread with tea and have a cooking gas cylinder and a teapot, two thermoses, a few glasses, plates, and bowls as kitchen utensils. Asked what they ate today, Musazey said: “Tea and a few pieces of dry bread. Yesterday we ate a few potatoes brought by the neighbors. We have nothing else to eat. We want to be helped.” She and her children can’t even remember the last time they had a decent meal. Musazey said her drug addict husband left them and she last saw him eight months ago. She said that while living in Badghis, her husband borrowed $1,500 from an acquaintance, which she is unable to pay off. “We have to pay our debt, either by paying money or by giving our child. We are in hunger as a family. We do not have any relatives who can help us. Everyone is poor. I have to give my child for my debt. Nobody helps us. I will either sell my daughter or give her in return for my debt.” The creditor, Khan Hazret, said he was in good financial condition before, and he loaned Musazey’s husband the money to meet his needs. Noting that he is also poor and unable to earn his keep, Hazret said he wants to either collect the debt or marry Saliha to his 12-year-old son in return.