Edinburgh Castle lights up in red in support of Appeal for Afghanistan

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The emergency appeal was set up by the Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of 15 of the UK’s leading aid charities, in Scotland to help more than eight million people who are on the brink of famine, including a million children under the age of five.

It is hoped the funds will be able to provide lifesaving food and shelter as well as healthcare.

To help raise awareness of the appeal, Edinburgh Castle lit up in emergency red to encourage more people to support the cause.

DEC messaging also appeared at the city’s Calton Hill.

Nadeem Baqir, of Islamic Relief Scotland and the DEC Scotland spokesman for this appeal, said: “Once again, the people of Scotland have shown their compassion and global solidarity by donating so much, so quickly for the people of Afghanistan.

“Many people here now know just how horrific life must be for millions of families who have little to no food and have to survive the Winter ahead in freezing conditions.”

A DEC spokesman added: “With these generous donations, our member charities are now able to scale up operations to feed malnourished children, provide blankets to keep people warm and help bolster severely depleted health systems.

“As always despite such a strong response we are urging everyone who can to donate whatever they can to help us reach even more people in the days and weeks ahead.”

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