IRIN: At least 1.5 million people in 19 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces – mostly farming communities in the north – have been severely affected by drought and are in need of urgent humanitarian relief, an Afghan minister told IRIN. “About 1.5 million people have lost 70-80 percent of their livelihoods – mostly rain-fed agriculture and livestock – owing to the drought,” said Ehsan Zia, minister of rural rehabilitation and development. The country has about 1.5 million …