KABUL – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has distributed basic needs to over 1,700 families in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat, the UNICEF Afghanistan said on Thursday.

“To keep children and women warm and meet their basic needs during this harsh winter @UNICEFafg distributed 5,000 blankets, 1,700 tarpaulin and 1,700 buckets to 1,700 most vulnerable families in Herat Province,” the organization wrote on Twitter.

The statement came as snow-covered most parts of the mountainous Asian country following heavy snowing in recent days. Since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in mid-August 2021, and the formation of the Taliban-led caretaker government on Sept. 7 last year, the impoverished country has faced economic woes.