Kabul, Afghanistan ? Disease fueled by freezing weather has killed 128 Afghan children, and desperate parents are feeding their children opium in a bid to alleviate their suffering, the health minister said Saturday.

The children have died of ailments including pneumonia, measles and whooping cough, Mohammed Amin Fatemi told The Associated Press. He said he had no figures for cold-related deaths among adults.

Afghan refugee Fatema, 6, is shown Saturday at the Chaman-e-Ozuri refugee camp in Kabul. Disease fueled by freezing weather has killed more than 120 Afghan children, with desperate parents feeding their children opium in a bid to alleviate their suffering, the health minister said Saturday.

“Many parents are giving opium to the children in the belief it will stop the coughing,” Fatemi said. “Maybe for two or three hours it will sedate them, but it is poison for their bodies and can turn them into addicts.”

Hundreds of Afghans reportedly have died since heavy snow and freezing temperatures set in across much of the impoverished nation in late December, highlighting how vulnerable people remain after more than two decades of conflict.

Some have died in accidents and avalanches, while former refugees even in the capital have apparently frozen to death in makeshift camps, exposing a lack of basic necessities despite three years of international aid.

The hardest hit area appears to be the western province of Ghor, deep in the Hindu Kush mountains, where deep snow has cut off scores of villages. The United Nations and the U.S. military were airlifting tons of supplies to more than 100,000 people in the southeastern province of Zabul as well as Ghor.