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Afghans urged not to travel to India, Pakistan amid outbreak of new virus strain
Minister of Public Health Ahmad Jawad Osmani said on Thursday that cases of the new strain of Coronavirus had been detected in Pakistan and India and urged Afghans not to travel to either country for at least four weeks.
He said Afghanistan’s public health ministry was working on ways to detect this variant.
Afghanistan, with an already fragile health care system, has faced enormous challenges in terms of treating and testing patients for COVID-19.
The new strain, detected in a number of other countries including the UK and more recently in the US, has medical experts around the world concerned as it appears to be far more contagious than the initial one.
The UK government recently announced they had found a “highly contagious new variant of the virus” and put this down to the sharp increase in infections.
According to reports, the new variant of the SARS-COV-2 could be up to 70 percent more contagious than the old variant and what has experts more worried is that this strain is affecting much younger and otherwise healthy people.
Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, held separate phone calls with senior officials from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, focusing on the recent escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In his call with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Muttaqi said Afghanistan’s recent security actions were aimed at protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity. Qatar expressed support for reducing tensions and said it is ready to play a constructive role.
During his call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Muttaqi praised Riyadh’s diplomatic efforts and reaffirmed Afghanistan’s desire for positive relations based on mutual respect. Saudi Arabia stressed de-escalation, dialogue, and respect for sovereignty as essential for resolving disputes.
Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreed to maintain ongoing contact and support diplomatic approaches to regional stability.
The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan has announced that Afghan forces carried out fresh airstrikes on military targets in Miranshah and Spinwam, in Pakistan.
The strikes took place last night around 12:00 AM, according to the Ministry. In its statement, the Ministry said the Miranshah and Spinwam military bases were destroyed, resulting in heavy casualties.
The statement added that these “successful strikes were carried out in response to repeated air incursions by the Pakistani military regime.”
Afghan forces successfully shot down a military jet belonging to the Pakistani military in the 6th district of Jalalabad, according to the spokesperson of the Nangarhar police.
Officials confirmed that the pilot of the jet was captured alive following the incident. The spokesperson did not immediately provide further details on the circumstances leading to the downing of the aircraft or the current status of the pilot.
This development comes amid ongoing tensions along the Durand Line, where security forces from both sides have reportedly engaged in sporadic clashes recently.
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