GENEVA: Donor countries pledged $2.44 billion towards the United Nations’ $4.4 billion appeal for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, a senior UN official said on Thursday after a high-level pledging conference.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for donors to provide “unconditional” funding saying that 9 million Afghans faced famine and that families were selling children and organs to survive.

Joyce Msuya, UN deputy emergency relief coordinator, announced that $2.44 billion was promised at the talks during which Western donors including the United States, the European Union and Britain strongly criticised the Taliban’s decision to deny girls secondary education.