OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:00 PM PT — Friday, April 3, 2020
The Taliban recently announced a ceasefire in the areas of
Afghanistan that have been affected by the coronavirus. A spokesperson
made the announcement via Twitter, saying the group would stop fighting
to allow medical teams to provide health services and aid.“If, God forbid, the outbreak happens in an area where we control the situation, then we will stop fighting in that area,” said Zabiullah Mujahid.
The announcement followed a UN Security Council statement, which urged for an immediate ceasefire in response to the pandemic.
This week, Afghanistan imposed a lockdown in several cities in an attempt to curb the spread. So far, there have been nearly 300 infections and six deaths in the region.
Meanwhile, neighboring country Iran has been struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic as the death toll continues to rise. Iran’s health ministry announced Friday that 134 people lost their lives to the virus in a single day. This brought the country’s death toll to nearly 3,300.
Officials also confirmed the virus has infected more than 53,000 people in the country. Iran has taken various measures to stop the spread of the virus, including disinfecting the streets and public areas.
“The main goal is disinfection of public places in areas of prevalence of the coronavirus,” stated one local. “This virus suddenly spread and affected the whole country, but it is also affecting all countries in the world.”
Iran has been one of the hardest hit countries in the world after it reported its first coronavirus death on February 19th.
In this Friday, March 27, 2020 photo, members of the Islamic Health Society, an arm of the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group prepare to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.
