The number of people dying of the coronavirus in Pakistan has fallen to a single-digit figure for the first time in three months, officials said on August 2, calling the drop a hard-earned success thanks to strict social-distancing measures.
An attack by Islamic State (IS) militants on a prison in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province has left at least 39 people dead as violence continues in the war-torn nation.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the release of an additional 500 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture as a three-day cease-fire proposed by the Taliban and agreed to by the Afghan government took effect on July 31.
Millions more Afghans are being pushed into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic, which has overwhelmed the war-wracked country's basic health-care system and exacerbated food insecurity, a U.S. watchdog said on July 30.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented authorities in Lahore, Pakistan, with all kinds of challenges. They’re dealing with shortages, a rise in cases, and now a rise in disinformation about the virus. VOA’s Saman Khan reports.
Afghans on July 29 welcomed a three-day cease-fire but called for it to be made permanent after the government and the Taliban said they would observe a truce that could kickstart peace talks as soon as next week.
Talks between the Afghan government and the hard-line Islamist Taliban movement finally appear to be on the horizon after the two sides announced a brief cease-fire during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha this week.
The Taliban and Afghan government have announced a three-day cease-fire for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting on July 31, as the United States presses for the start of delayed intra-Afghan peace talks.
The pandemic has, however, badly hit India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, which have shut or heavily restricted major markets, while fears about catching the virus are keeping customers away ahead of the main festival on August 1.
There were 1,282 civilian deaths in Afghanistan in the first half of the year, the UN Mission in Afghanistan said in a report published on July 27.
An all-female group of robotics students in the Afghan city of Herat has developed a prototype ventilator for COVID-19 patients based on a design by M.I.T.
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