ago which shocked the world. many western backed afghan government leaders had already fled, while thousands of afghan citizens and foreigners fearing taliban rule scrambled to find room on flights out of the country. in the months after the taliban took power all aspects of life in the country started to slide towards collapse. there were food shortages, energy supply problems and with the approaching winter a looming i returned to afghanistan in late 2021 and saw for myself the impact especially on the youngest of victims childtren. when i visited paedeatric wards at a hospital in kabul there i saw badly malnourished children with their mothers who had little hope for the future. here s what i saw.