Two aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance provided by Saudi Arabia landed in Kabul on Friday, officials said.
The aid consisted of 197 tons of food products and is the second of three planned deliveries. Two more aircraft are planned for arrival on Saturday.
Officials said the first two aircraft carrying aid landed in Kabul.
“This aid is provided by … Saudi Arabia to the people of Afghanistan. Two aircraft arrived yesterday and two more arrived today and another two aircraft will arrive tomorrow. The aid includes food products,” said Fahad Ayed Sultan Asiemi, an official of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center on Friday.
Officials at the Afghan Red Crescent Society said that the aid will be distributed to people in need.
“At least 95 percent of people are in grave need, currently. There is no need for a survey. A lot of them are affected by the drought,” said Mullah Nooruddin Torabi, deputy head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
According to the Afghan Red Crescent, the Saudis will also provide 100 trucks of aid to Afghanistan. The trucks will bring aid to Afghanistan via Pakistan.
Economists said that such aid is not sufficient for Afghanistan in the long term. “This aid can alleviate poverty for a short time but to tackle the problems in the long term, the world should engage with Afghanistan,” said Abdul Naseer Rishtia—AP
