An Afghan woman cares for her dying sheep in the village of Qasabach Qala, Faryab Province, Northwest Afghanistan on Friday 15th February, 2008.




More than 900 people were  killed across Afghanistan as the country suffered from one of its harshest ever winters. Below freezing temperatures and bitter snow storms have gripped the nation since the onset of winter in mid December. At its peak temperatures in the region fell to -22C (-8F); the coldest in more than 30 years. Nearly half the villages in western Afghanistan had been cut off from the major cities due to heavy snowfall, which reached 2 meters (79 inches) deep in some places. The cold snap hit the agricultural and livestock industry hard with more than 130,000 cattle now perishing in the freezing temperatures.