ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national flag carrier flew its first cargo plane with essential medical supplies to Afghanistan on Monday as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share the “humanitarian responsibility” with Iran and Pakistan which already host 2.2 million Afghans.
Hundreds of tons of medical supplies due to be delivered to Afghanistan have been stuck due to commercial flight restrictions at Kabul airport.
To facilitate aid agencies in their efforts, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane flew from Dubai to Mazar-e-Sharif after coordinating with international agencies.
“PIA’s special plane, Boeing 777, delivered food and medicine to Mazar-e-Sharif from Dubai,” PIA said in a statement on Monday.
The picture released by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on August 30, 2021 shows essential medicines and supplies from World Health Organization (WHO) to be delivered to Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy: @Official_PIA/Twitter)
It is the first international humanitarian flight from outside Kabul since the Taliban took over on August 15.
“Purpose of the cargo plane was to assist the United Nations as much as possible to alleviate the shortage of medicines in Afghanistan as Afghan brothers were in trouble due to lack of medicines,” PIA said.
Pakistan has been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts for Afghanistan, launching special PIA flights to Kabul a day after the Taliban captured the Afghan capital to help European countries and international organizations evacuate their nationals and employees.
In comments to reporters last week, WHO regional emergency director Dr. Richard Brennan said Kabul airport restrictions had added to challenges faced by the agency in delivering aid and essential supplies to thousands of Afghans affected by the crisis.
“One of the challenges we have in Afghanistan right now is there’s no Civil Aviation Authority functioning. But we are working with the Pakistanis, particularly in the context of Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, because they can work with contacts on the ground to ensure that all the necessary steps to land an aircraft, to land a cargo aircraft, can be put in place,” Brennan said.
