Afghanistan officially registers 1300 infected and about 50 deaths, but tests are extremely limited and the cases are much higher. The coronavirus-related health emergency is added to political instability, institutional fragility, dependence on international donors
Both Abdullah and Ghani held oath taking ceremonies in capital Kabul on 9th of March, further fueling political tensions amid ongoing efforts to find a negotiated political settlement to ongoing violence
The 203rd Thunder Corps in a statement said the Afghan forces effectively responded to a Taliban attack in Sahak area of Zurmat district, killing at least six militants
The UN agency noted that tens of thousands of Afghan citizens have crossed over from Pakistan to Afghanistan since the temporary re-opening of the border last week
The threat came knocking on the country’s western border with Iran, when thousands of panicked Afghan refugees started returning, voluntarily or otherwise, with evident symptoms of the COVID-19 disease
Pakistan Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) on Sunday warned the Prosperous World and the United Nations against developing human crisis in Afghan refugee camps due to prolonged lockdown situation amidst coronavirus outbreak
Observers are concerned that some of these returnees might be asymptomatic carriers of the virus and therefore unwittingly spread it all throughout the country on their way back to their homes in both the country’s urban and rural areas
Prior to the latest rift, the rejuvenated yet fragile Afghan peace process faced deadlocks as differences persisted between Kabul and the Taliban over a proposed exchange of prisoners
Catholic chapel of the Italian Embassy in Kabul – the only Catholic church in Afghanistan – has suspended celebrations to respond to the containment measures of the coronavirus. This is what Father Giovanni Scalese, Barnabite priest, at the head of the Missio sui iuris in Afghanistan reports to Agenzia Fides. “At the end of February – says the priest in a note sent to Fides – I had sent a message regarding the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the covid-19 disease
The Afghan government announced last week that it has formed a negotiating team led by former intelligence chief Masoom Stanikzai to hold talks with the Taliban group