Nepal sends humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Nepal has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as the situation in the country deteriorates after the Taliban takeover in August last year.

"Nepal is determined to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan and is sending through a special aircraft," Nepali Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka said during a meet at the Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu.

As per the Minister, the Himalayan Nation has sent 12 tons of humanitarian aid, relief materials, including medicines and clothes following protocols as provided by the United Nations.

"As per the list provided by the United Nations which includes medicines, household materials and clothes, as it is chilling cold out there, these three category materials has been dispatched to Afghanistan," Minister added.

According to him, relief materials and supplies will be handed over to UN representative in Kabul and would be distributed accordingly as the nation faces a crunch of supplies and aid.

However, the Foreign Minister clarified that this step of Nepal doesn't mean the recognition of the Taliban government and claimed it solely as a humanitarian gesture.

"There is nothing as we would recognize the government there. We have been in close and direct contact with UN representatives there and it would be distributed through UN agencies only. As per my information, there are over five hundred bodies working there, their deployment there would be made by United Nations," he said.

The UN agencies on January 11 have asked USD 4.4 Billion in humanitarian aid for 2022 for the world's worst humanitarian crisis making it first nation in the world to seek assistance.

As per the UN, 23 million Afghans more than half the population face acute hunger, with nearly nine million one step from famine, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). It also said that up to one million children under five are at risk of dying from malnutrition.

( With inputs from ANI )

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