The Tragic Consequences of US Aid Cuts: A Father's Heartbreaking Loss in Afghanistan

When Shahnaz went into labour, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them.

She was in a lot pain, he says.

A 20-minute drive away, the clinic was in Shesh Pol village in Afghanistan's north-eastern Badakhshan province. It was where their two older children were born.

Abdul sat next to Shahnaz comforting her as they drove over gravel tracks to reach help.

But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn't know it had shut down, he said, his face crumpling with agony.

Warning: Readers may find some details in this article distressing.

The clinic in Shesh Pol is one of more than 400 medical facilities that closed down in Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, after the Trump administration cut nearly all US aid to the country earlier this year, in a drastic and abrupt move following the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

A single-storey structure with four small rooms, white paint peeling off its walls, the Shesh Pol clinic has USAID posters tacked up everywhere with information and guidance for pregnant women and new mothers.

It doesn't look like much but in Badakhshan's mountainous, unforgiving terrain, where a lack of access has been a major reason for historically high maternal mortality rates, the clinic was a critical lifeline, part of a wider programme implemented during the tenure of the US-backed government in the country, to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.

It had a trained midwife who assisted around 25-30 deliveries every month. It had a stock of medicines and injections, and it also provided basic healthcare services.

Other medical facilities are simply too far from Abdul's village, and it was not without risk for Shahnaz to travel on bumpy roads. Abdul also didn't have money to pay for a longer journey - renting the taxi cost 1,000 Afghani ($14.65; £12.70), roughly a quarter of his monthly income as a labourer. So they decided to return home.

But the baby was coming and we had to stop by the side of the road, Abdul said.

Shahnaz delivered their baby girl in the car. Shortly after, she died, bleeding profusely. A few hours later, before she could be named, their baby also died.

I wept and screamed. My wife and child could've been saved if the clinic was open, said Abdul. We had a hard life, but we were living it together. I was always happy when I was with her.

He doesn't even have a photo of Shahnaz to hold on to.

There's no certainty the mother and baby would've survived if they'd been treated at the clinic, but without it, they didn't stand a chance, underlining the undeniable impact of US aid cuts in Afghanistan.

For decades, America has been the largest donor to Afghanistan, and in 2024, US funds made up a staggering 43% of all aid coming into the country.

The Trump administration has justified withdrawing it, saying there were credible and longstanding concerns that funding was benefiting terrorist groups, including... the Taliban, who govern the country. The US government further added that they had reports stating that at least $11m were being siphoned or enriching the Taliban.

The report that the US State Department referenced was made by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). It said that $10.9m of US taxpayer money had been paid to the Taliban-controlled government by partners of USAID in taxes, fees, duties, or utilities.

The Taliban government denies that aid money was going into their hands. This allegation is not true. The aid is given to the UN, and through them to NGOs in provinces. They identify who needs the aid, and they distribute it themselves. The government is not involved, said Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Taliban's political office in Doha.

The closure of clinics in villages has resulted in a surge of patients at the maternity ward of the main regional hospital in the provincial capital Faizabad.

Getting to it, through Badakhshan's treacherous landscape is risky. We were shown a horrifying photo of a newborn baby, who was delivered on the way to Faizabad, and whose neck snapped before he got to the hospital.

The Taliban government's policies, especially its restrictions on women, the harshest in the world, have meant that after four years in power, it is still not recognised by most of the world. It's also a key reason donors have been increasingly walking away from the country.

The US insists no one has died because of aid cuts. Shahnaz and her baby's deaths are not recorded anywhere. Neither are countless others.

The BBC has documented at least half a dozen first-hand, devastating accounts in areas where USAID-supported clinics have shut down.

Right next to Shahnaz's grave, villagers who had gathered around us pointed to two other graves. They told us both were of women who died in childbirth in the past four months. Their babies survived.

In another home a few lanes away, Bahisa tells us how terrifying it was to give birth at home. Her three other children were born in the Cawgani clinic.

I was so scared. In the clinic, we had a midwife, medicines and injections. At home I had nothing, no painkillers. It was unbearable pain. I felt like life was leaving my body. I became numb, she said.

Her baby girl, named Fakiha, died three days after she was born.

Midwives like Razia Hanifi face extremely tough working conditions amid shortages of staff, which are likely to worsen after the Taliban banned midwifery training for women. The Taliban government has been firm in its stance regarding women's rights, further limiting their access to healthcare services.

As this crisis unfolds, the heartbreaking stories of families like Abdul's and Khan Mohammad's cast a somber light on the urgent need for international attention and action to address maternal health issues in Afghanistan.