ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in collaboration with the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRC) has sent a consignment of food packages for 16,000 people in Afghanistan.

The consignment was handed over by PRCS and TRC officials to the representatives of Afghanistan Red Crescent Society at a ceremony held at the Torkham border crossing point.

The humanitarian aid was delivered to Afghanistan under the joint project of Pakistan and Turkey. As many as 33 tons of food supplies contain food package with consumable items, including red bean, pasta, sugar, rice, cooking oil and chickpeas for distribution among the affected Afghan population.

In his message, PRCS ChairmanAbrarul Haq said Pakistan and Turkey have always stood side by side with people in distress. He also paid tributes to the TRC for their magnanimous support and long-term partnership with the PRCS in humanitarian interventions in the last decades.

“The TRC has always fulfilled its commitment to support PRCS as a reliable partner in case of any disaster or emergency,” he said.

He said that people of Afghanistan are facing immense challenges due to the crisis and Covid-19.

The Afghanistan conflict, extreme drought and the pandemic have adversely affected the people with thousands displaced by the recent conflict and millions more suffering high levels of acute food shortages,” he said, adding the humanitarian assistance was the expression of solidarity with the vulnerable people of Afghanistan.

“The quantity of food packs being distributed may not be that huge, but what matters is the demonstration of close relations and brotherhood between the people of Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan,” Mr Haq added.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2021