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Coronavirus pandemic

Taliban hope for Russia’s assistance in fighting COVID-19 — health ministry spokesman

The situation in the health sector of Afghanistan remains extremely tense due to the absence of necessary medicines and a shortage of specialists

KABUL, December 10. /TASS/. The Taliban radical militant group that came to power in Afghanistan expects Russia’s assistance in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, spokesman for the Taliban-appointed Health Ministry Javid Khazhir told TASS on Friday.

"Today many countries, including Russia, are rendering Afghanistan humanitarian assistance," the spokesman stressed. "Of course, we expect assistance from Russia in many spheres, especially in the health sector and assistance in fighting coronavirus," he added.

As the spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry pointed out, a shortage of funds has been a major stumbling block in the current period of the spread of the novel coronavirus because foreign organizations have actually stopped providing assistance and the country "does not have a sufficient budget and equipment to fight the pandemic on its own."

The situation in the health sector of Afghanistan remains extremely tense due to the absence of necessary medicines and a shortage of specialists. According to the latest data of the World Health Organization (WHO), over 157,000 COVID-19 cases have been identified in the country with a population of around 39 million people and 7,317 of them have died. The Taliban-appointed government fails to monitor the situation on a regular basis while this monitoring in some regions is non-existent.

The Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) launched a large-scale offensive to seize control of Afghanistan after the United States declared its intention in the spring of this year to withdraw its troops from the country.

On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul without encountering any resistance while Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country. The Taliban declared on September 6 that they had established control of the entire Afghan territory and on September 7 they announced an interim government in Afghanistan that has not been recognized by any country so far.

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