Pakistan sends another tranche of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Pakistan delivered another consignment of relief goods to Afghanistan’s Mazar-e-Sharif on Sunday as the country continues its humanitarian assistance to the next-door neighbor.

"These goods were delivered by our Consul General to Governor Bulkh Maulvi Qudratullah," Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan said on Twitter.

The tons of food and medical supplies dispatched via C-130 aircraft are part of the country’s commitments to rebuild Afghanistan's infrastructure as it tackles the impending humanitarian crisis post-US withdrawal.

This is the fourth consignment of the relief goods to the war-torn country after the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15.

The third consignment that reached Khost on Saturday included cooking oil, flour and life-saving drugs, a press release said.

The first C-130 aircraft carrying relief goods had arrived at Kabul Airport on Thursday. On the occasion, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan called it just a beginning.

Read more: Pakistan will continue to extend humanitarian aid to Afghanistan: Qureshi

On Saturday, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had said that it will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesman told AFP, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.

"We have got all technical clearances for flight operations," PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said.
"Our first commercial plane... is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13."

Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operational again with Qatari technical assistance.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reiterated Pakistan's commitment to extend help to the people of Afghanistan despite limited resources.

In a statement, he said Pakistan wants peace and prosperity in the neighbouring country. “We are also trying to send them the relief goods to avert any crisis,” he added.

The minister further said that a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan wasn't in the interest of the Afghan people, the region or the world.

Also read: PIA to restart commercial flights to Kabul from Monday

Pakistan, along with Qatar, had earlier called upon the international community to provide Afghanistan access to its reserves abroad which were frozen after the Taliban came into power, and help the country in the time of need.