On Monday Pakistan said it would deliver WHO medical supplies to northern Afghanistan’s Mazar-e-Sharif, the fourth largest city of the country which fell to the Taliban on August 14.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan announced on Twitter that the country’s flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would deliver the medical supplies of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a cargo flight.
“First PIA Cargo flight with WHO medical supplies from Islamabad to Mazar Sharif today. A humanitarian air bridge for essential supplies to Afghanistan in coordination with international agencies. Thanx PIA,” he said in a tweet.
It was not yet known when the flight would touch down in Afghanistan. The country’s fourth-largest city Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, fell to the Taliban on August 14.
The Taliban took power over Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war which forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country to the UAE.
The Taliban insurgents have stormed across Afghanistan, capturing all major cities in a matter of days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the US and its allies melted away.
Thousands of Afghan nationals and foreigners are fleeing the country to escape the new Taliban regime and to seek asylum in different nations, including the US and many European nations, resulting in chaos at Kabul airport and deaths.
