305 stranded Pakistanis return home via Torkham

PESHAWAR – More than three hundred Pakistanis, who were stranded in Afghanistan due to coronavirus pandemic, have returned home through Torkham border.

Assistant Commissioner Shamsul-Islam and security official received them at the border, before they were shifted to Quarantine center in Landi Kotal for COVID-19 testing.

The first COVID-19 case in Afghanistan was recorded on February 24 in western Herat province, when a newly deported Afghan asylum-seeker from neighboring Iran — host to around 2.5 million Afghans — showed symptoms. Herat soon became Afghanistan's coronavirus hotspot as Tehran continued deporting Afghans at an accelerated rate. 

Since then, the virus has spread to other parts of the conflict-ridden nation, with 4,033 confirmed cases and 115 fatalities. But health experts have warned that the pandemic could have devastating consequences for the war-ravaged nation. Without a unified response and access to enough tests and ventilators, it risks facing a highly deadly outbreak.