KABUL: Dozens of Afghans gathered outside a bakery in central Kabul, hoping to get a free loaf of bread. It comes after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council last week that Afghanistan is “hanging by a thread,” with millions of people starving, on Monday.

A 14-years-old girl Hamena from Kabul said, it has been tough to make ends meet with her father working as a market porter and her mother sick at home. “So, I come here to get some bread for my home,” she said.

Mehr Dil Khan Rahmati, 58, has been handing out free bread for approximately three years, but he says poverty has increased since the last government collapsed.

“When people donate extra money, we bake more bread (for people in need) and will usually bake until eight or 10 o’clock at night,” he said, adding that there are days when his workers bake as many as 20,000 loaves.

Before the Taliban swept Afghanistan, he said about 500 people would wait outside his shop each day, but now, there are days where as many as 2,000 tried their best to get a free loaf for themselves and for family members.