First Batch of Russian Humanitarian Aid Arrives in Afghanistan
For the first time since the Taliban took control, Russia sends the first batch of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
A batch of the Russian humanitarian aid to Afghanistan arrived at Kabul Airport Thursday morning, in the first shipment of its kind since the Taliban Movement took control of Afghanistan last August, Aamaj News reported.
Earlier, the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, had stated that the Russian Defense Ministry will deliver humanitarian aid weighing 36 tons to Afghanistan on November 18, including food, medicine, and essential goods.
Two additional shipments of humanitarian aid supplies will be later delivered by military transport aircraft, bringing the total volume of Russian aid to more than 100 tons, Zhirnov added.
🇷🇺 Russia to deliver today the first batch of humanitarian aid to 🇦🇫Afghanistan, including 36 tonnes of food, medicine and essential goods. Two more shipments to follow. Overall over 100 tonnes of aid to be supplied - 🇷🇺 Ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov.https://t.co/Yn72Jov2Df pic.twitter.com/jflVNU05lh
— Alexander Alimov (@A__Alimov) November 18, 2021
UN envoy to Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the UN Security Council that "the reality of the current situation threatens to heighten the risk of extremism."
Lyons also warned that "the ongoing paralysis of the banking sector will push more of the financial system into on unregulated informal money exchanges which can only help facilitate terrorism, trafficking, and further drug smuggling."
In the same context, the World Food Program began this month distributing financial aid to the poorest Afghan families, as the Afghan economy witnessed a gradual collapse that led to an increase in hunger and poverty rates.