While international forces in Afghanistan battle militants hiding in the mountains, aid agencies are fighting an even more elusive enemy: malnutrition.

The World Food Program and UNICEF have launched a project to feed thousands of mothers and children _ some too weak to cry. Aid workers hope a high-protein diet distributed through a network of village clinics can help them through the winter.

Despite the billions spent in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban, the country is still comparable to the worst humanitarian crisis zones in Africa. Afghanistan has the world's highest maternal mortality rate and the second-highest child mortality rate _ and hunger is a major reason why, the United Nations says. This year, centers across the country will feed 100,000 children and 35,000 pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Dozens of mothers, many clad in full burqa body veils, crouched in the clinic in Aqcha waiting for rations. The room was eerily silent except for gusts of wind that howled through the open door. Dozens of toddlers in their arms didn't make a sound.

"Most of the children are too tired and hungry, they don't have the energy to cry," said Dr. Nasrullah Sulfane, who oversees the program here.

The mothers received their weekly ration: 25 grams (0.88 ounces) of cooking oil with 215 grams (7.58 ounces) of corn and soya flour per child. The food doesn't cover all the children's needs, but it aims to provide the extra calories needed to avert the worst consequences of hunger.

The program was launched in August amid widespread security concerns because Afghanistan's insurgents have increasingly tended to target aid workers. There also were worries that conservative villagers would not let their women go to the feeding centers, where they might encounter foreigners regularly. That didn't happen in Aqcha, a remote town lost on the barren steppes of northern Afghanistan.

"So far, attendance is a real success," Sulfane said. "I think all the families understand the benefits of free food."

Before receiving their rations, mothers balanced their toddlers on a scale used to identify children in deteriorating condition.

Two-year-old Sharafuddin weighed in at 9.5 kilograms (20.94 pounds).That's extremely light for a 2-year-old boy, but the aid workers were thrilled _ a month before, he had weighed just 8 kilograms (17.64 pounds).

"We're very happy for him. He's just graduated to 'moderately malnourished,'" said Nih Mohammed, the records manager who handed out the rations.