RIYADH (National Times)- Saudi Arabia sent two aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to Afghanistan Thursday, state media reported, its first such initiative since the Taliban took control of the crisis-stricken country in August.<\/p>\n
The Kingdom’s state-run King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) sent more than 65 tonnes of aid, including 1,647 food baskets, the official Saudi Press Agency said.<\/p>\n
The centre’s supervisor general, Abdullah al-Rabeeah, said the Saudi humanitarian air bridge would see a total of six planes deliver more than 197 tonnes of aid to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
He said the aid would also be delivered overland on 200 trucks from neighbouring Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The Gulf Arab countries agreed during a summit in Riyadh on Tuesday to “contribute in mobilising international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and to improving their economic conditions”.<\/p>\n
More than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million people face “acute” food shortages, according to the United Nations, with the winter forcing millions to choose between emigration and starvation.<\/p>\n
The previous Taliban government between 1996 and 2001 imposed a very strict interpretation of Islamic law and harsh public punishments.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia was one of three nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, which recognised the previous hardline Taliban regime.<\/p>\n
But, since returning to power in mid-August after overthrowing the US-backed government, the Taliban has tried to show a more moderate face in its quest for international recognition and an end to sanctions.<\/p>\n
Despite the lack of recognition for the Taliban government, the United States allowed some exemptions to its sanctions on Afghanistan to enable humanitarian aid to enter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH (National Times)- Saudi Arabia sent two aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to Afghanistan Thursday, state media reported, its first such initiative since the Taliban took control of the crisis-stricken country in August. The Kingdom’s state-run King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) sent more than 65 tonnes of aid, including 1,647 food baskets, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n