More Afghans will be struggling for survival as living conditions deteriorate in the year ahead, a top Red Cross official says as the country braces for its second winter under Taliban rule.

Key points:

• Winter is expected to compound the humanitarian crises that Afghans are facing
• Sanctions are creating barriers to getting aid and the necessary supplies to the country
• The Red Cross pays the salaries of 10,500 medical staff every month to ensure basic healthcare services

Their seizure of power in August 2021 sent the economy into a tailspin and fundamentally transformed Afghanistan, driving millions into poverty and hunger as foreign aid stopped almost overnight.

"The economic hardship is there. It's very serious and people will struggle for their lives," Martin Schuepp, director of operations at the Red Cross, said.

Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers, and frozen billions in Afghanistan's currency reserves have already restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country's aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

The onset of winter will compound the acute humanitarian needs that half the country is already facing, Mr. Schuepp pointed out.

"Prices are spiking due to a whole set of reasons, but also the issue of sanctions has led to massive consequences," he said.

"We see more and more Afghans who are having to sell their belongings to make ends meet, where they have to buy materials for heating while at the same time have to face increasing costs for food and other essential items." 

Sanctions are a challenge in getting aid and the necessary supplies to the country in a timely fashion, and it is key that all sanctions have humanitarian exemptions so organizations like the ICRC could continue their work, he said.

Mr. Schuepp said the Red Cross was already paying the salaries of 10,500 medical staff every month to ensure basic healthcare services stayed afloat.

"We are very conscious that it's not our primary role to pay for salaries of medical staff," he said.

"As a humanitarian organization, we are not best placed to do that. We have done so exceptionally to ensure that services continue to be provided."

Mr. Schuepp, who was making his first visit to Afghanistan as director of operations since the Taliban takeover, said the agency was feeding most of the country's prison population.

He was unable to immediately say how many prisoners there were in Afghanistan.

"We have stepped up our support to prisons and prisoners, ensuring that food is being provided in the prisons throughout the country," he said.

"Today, about 80 percent of the prison population benefits from such food support."