6-year-old Afghan boy with terminal illness dies in US custody

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 23 : A six-year-old Afghan boy died on June 13 in federal government custody in the United States (US), Khaama Press reported on Thursday.

He was brought to the US after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. The boy was suffering from a terminal illness and passed away on June 13, CBS News reported citing anonymous US officials, as per Khaama Press.

According to reports, the boy was one of the hundreds of Afghan children who arrived without their parents, after they were evacuated from Afghanistan.

They were handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. This department accommodates unaccompanied adolescents, including those processed at the US-Mexico border because they arrived in the US without parents or other legal guardians, reported Khaama Press.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed the child's death in a statement to the American Network on Thursday. It attributed it to "severe encephalopathy," a condition related to a brain disorder or disease.

The boy's death marks this year's third unaccompanied child death in HHS custody, Khaama Press reported, citing CBS News.

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