India, Pakistan send help to Afghanistan after deadly earthquake

The two South Asian nations offer humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, where a powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,000 people.

India and Pakistan have sent humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan where a powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,000 people.

India said it has sent a technical team to the Afghan capital, Kabul, to coordinate the delivery of aid, while trucks of food and other necessities arrived from Pakistan, where also the tremors were felt in some areas.

India’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it had sent 27 tonnes of supplies on two flights to be handed over to international aid agencies and the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

The ministry said its team has been deployed to its embassy in Kabul, which has been vacant since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August.

The ministry statement did not give details about the technical team, saying it was sent to “closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance” as part of a “continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people”.

“As always, India stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, with whom we share centuries-old ties, and remains firmly committed to providing immediate relief assistance for the Afghan people,” the statement said.

Residents in the hardest-hit districts of Paktika province in the northeast appeared to largely be on their own in trying to survive after the earthquake, with the Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggling to bring in help.

Pakistan said it has dispatched relief goods for the people affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES