Pakistan sends four planeloads, 115 trucks of relief goods to Afghanistan

Pakistan Tuesday sent seven additional trucks from Torkham border, carrying 45 tons of food items, 1,440 winter clothing family packs, and eight tons of rice and medicine, taking the total assistance dispatched so far by the country to four C130 loads, 115 trucks load comprising of 1,722 tons of food, medicines, and shelters for our distressed Afghan brethren. The Pak-Afghan Cooperation Forum and Khadija Welfare Trust handed over the seven truckloads of relief goods to Afghan officials at the Torkham Border in Peshawar. Mufti Tariq Masood of the Khadija Welfare Trust and Additional Assistant Commissioner Ashrafuddin handed over the relief goods to the Raees of Afghanistan Emarat-e-Islami, Muhammad Nasim Ahmadi at Torkham Border, Landikotal in Khyber district. The relief goods included blankets, quilts, daily use items and edibles. Muhammad Nasim Ahmadi said over one million children in Afghanistan were faced with food scarcity and other problems, urging the United Nations and other countries to provide maximum relief goods to Afghans in this hour of need. Ahmadi further said that Pakistan always stood by its Afghan brethren for which the Afghan government was thankful to Pakistan. The head of the Khadija Welfare Trust, Mufti Tariq Masood said, “We offered seven truckloads of relief goods to Afghanistan to minimize the sufferings of Afghan brethren.” He also appealed to the world community to provide every possible assistance to the Afghan people at this critical juncture. Pakistan opened border crossing points along the Pak-Afghan border to ease the flow of goods across the border. These crossings include Torkham, Chaman, Kharlachi, Ghulam Khan, and Angoor Adda. In the eye camp in Kabul, eye specialists from Pakistan examined and treated Afghan patients including children, women and the elderly. 5,450 patients were examined and 206 surgeries were performed at the Kabul camp and 2,670 patients were examined while 324 surgeries were performed in the Khost camp. Pakistan had been providing medical facilities to Afghans for a longtime and allowed those in need of immediate health assistance to enter the country to seek medical assistance at hospitals in Quetta, Peshawar and other cities of the country. A free Eye Camp was organized at Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hospital Kabul from 22-24 November by the Pak-Afghan Cooperation Forum. Expert eye specialists from Pakistan examined and treated Afghan patients including children, women and the elderly. Earlier they successfully conducted a similar camp in Khost from 18-20 Nov 2021. Medical Visa Facility had been provided to Afghan patients and Pakistan authorities had removed the requirement of getting a gate pass for crossing the border by the Pakistani Interior Ministry and the border would be opened for pedestrian movement for 12 hours instead of eight. The government of Pakistan announced provision of medicine worth Rs 500 million at earliest to Afghans. Private pharma industry donors had also announced additional assistance of medicine worth Rs. 40 million. A Pakistani team would visit Afghanistan for provision of medical equipment, its installation and maintenance for three Pakistani funded hospitals at Jalalabad, Logar and Kabul. The two countries started joint polio eradication coordination under Polio Immunization Program assistance. Pakistan initiated training for capacity enhancement and institutional building of Afghan health care system. A pharmaceutical delegation would also visit Afghanistan for investment and assist indigenous medicine production in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan approved Rs 5 billion humanitarian aid for Afghanistan. According to a special waiver, Prime Minister also facilitated the transportation of Indian announced wheat assistance for the war-torn country through Pakistan during the first meeting of the apex committee of the newly established Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC).