Imran urges int'l community to support Afghanistan

Islamabad, Nov 23 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to fulfil its collective responsibility to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

"The world owed its support to ensure that they (people of Afghanistan) can live in a peaceful and stable environment after years of constant conflict," Xinhua news agency quoted Khan as saying on Monday while chairing a meeting of the Apex Committee of Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell in Islamabad.

During the meeting, Khan ordered the immediate shipment of in-kind humanitarian assistance worth 5 billion PKR ($29 million) to Afghanistan, which will comprise food commodities including wheat, emergency medical supplies, winter shelters and other supplies.

He also directed concerned authorities to revive bus service between Pakistan's Peshawar and Afghanistan's Jalalabad city to facilitate travellers on both sides.

Khan instructed all Pakistani ministries to facilitate Afghans to the maximum.

He also approved in-principle tariff and sales tax reduction on key Afghan exports to Pakistan.

Cut off from most sources of international aid that had sustained Afghanistan for 20 years, the country is on the verge of economic collapse and faces the spectre of famine and a humanitarian crisis.