Donors pledge $2.44 billion towards UN appeal for Afghan aid

GENEVA (Reuters) - Donor countries pledged $2.44 billion towards the United Nations' $4.4 billion appeal for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday after a high-level pledging conference. 

  Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for donors to provide "unconditional" funding saying that 9 million Afghans faced famine and that families were selling children and organs to survive. 

  Joyce Msuya, U.N. deputy emergency relief coordinator, announced that $2.44 billion was promised at the talks during which Western donors including the United States, the European Union and Britain strongly criticised the Taliban decision to deny girls secondary education. 

  (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Chris Reese)