Pakistan has dispatched seven more trucks of food items to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid to help the war-torn country recover from years of conflict. This new assistance is in addition to Pakistan food supplies of 345 tonnes of food items part of the ongoing aid.
The aid sent by the Pak-Afghan Cooperation Forum, comprises flour, rice and pulses. It was handed over to Afghan officials at Angoor Adda.
Assistant Commissioner Serwakai Ijaz Akhtar handed over the shipment to the Deputy Governor of Paktika province Molvi Hamas. Afghan officials gratefully accepted the humanitarian aid and prayed for even better relations between the two countries in the times to come.
A week ago, Pakistan dispatched 345 tonnes of food items to Afghanistan. The aid consisting of flour, rice and pulses, was handed over by Deputy Commissioner Chaman Jummadad Mandokhel to Afghan government representative Haji Kiramat.
Earlier this month, Pakistan handed over another consignment of aid to Afghan authorities at the Torkham border. Pakistan had been sending trucks full of flour, rice, and pulses to Afghanistan.
Pakistan is also facilitating Afghan st7udents to continue their studies. Recently, over 900 Afghan students to travel to Pakistan to resume their studies.
UNHCR appeals for urgent aid
Meanwhile UNGCR has urged the world to pledge more aid to Afghans to avert the economic, refugee crises.
On October 10, 2021, UN High Commissioner for Refugees had appealed that the world should urgently provide promised aid to Afghanistan, the UN refugee agency said on Saturday, warning that a lack of resources is hampering efforts to avert an economic crisis that could push fresh flows of refugees to its neighbours and beyond.
In an interview with Reuters Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that “The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan remains really dire” and the “focus has to be inside Afghanistan to avoid and avert another refugee crisis.”
“Our worry is Afghan suffering will increase, the impact will be inside…but also it could be beyond Afghanistan…in terms of displacement not only to countries like Pakistan and Iran that have been generous hosts of refugees for decades, but beyond.”
The total needed for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan in the next few months is $600 million, and only 35% of that had been provided by international donors, despite promises at a recent conference in Geneva where donors pledged more than $1 billion in aid.