Coal, an unavoidable pollutant in the harsh Afghan winter

At a Kabul market, coal is arriving by the tonne as the winter cold sets in.Even as prices rise, Afghans have few options but to burn it for heat, creating some of the world's most dangerous air.

"Pollution causes serious respiratory diseases ... All Afghans know what coal does," customer Amanullah Daudzai, dressed in a traditional beige shalwar kameez, tells AFP.

More than three months after the Taliban drove the Western-backed government out of the country, Afghanistan's economy is facing collapse.

In such desperate conditions, Daudzai says coal is still cheaper than the alternatives.

"If we had electricity and gas, people wouldn't use coal," says one of the market traders, Abdullah Rahimi.