China to provide $7.5 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

The aid will include tents, towels, beds and other materials, says Chinese foreign ministry

BEIJING:

China will provide humanitarian aid worth 50 million yuan ($7.5 million) to Afghanistan after it was hit by an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people this week, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The aid will include tents, towels, beds and other materials, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan early on Wednesday near the Pakistani border, about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Kabul.

Also read: Afghanistan seeks emergency medical supplies for earthquake survivors

Vital medical supplies reached hospitals on Saturday in the remote areas of Afghanistan hit by an earthquake.

Authorities have called off the search for survivors in the mountainous southeastern region following the quake, which also injured about 2,000 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 homes.

Aftershocks on Friday killed at least five more people in the area some 160 km (100 miles) southeast of the capital, Kabul, and medical staff said rudimentary healthcare facilities were hampering their efforts to help the injured.

Also read: Taliban thank Pakistan, other friendly countries for helping quake-hit Afghanistan

"Those injured that were in a bad condition and needed operations, (which) we can't do here, have been sent to Kabul," said Abrar, who goes by one name, the manager of a hospital in Paktika, the worst-affected province.

The disaster is a major test for Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers, who have been shunned by many foreign governments since they seized control of the country last year due to concerns about human rights.

Afghanistan has been cut off from much direct international assistance because of Western sanctions, deepening a humanitarian crisis in swathes of the country even before this week's earthquake.