A Qatari aircraft with humanitarian assistance materials arrived in Herat on Thursday. The aid will be distributed to the victims of the recent earthquakes in Herat.

The humanitarian assistance includes food materials, health supplies and blankets.

While a source said earlier that the shipment was 50 tonnes, an official at the Herat Red Crescent Society, Abdul Latif Sabit, told TOLOnews that the shipment is 70 tonnes. 

“Around 7,500 blankets are there, 2,000 food packages, 1,000 health kits and 20 tonnes of dates,” Sabit said.

Mashal Hajri, a Qatari charity official, said that they will continue their assistance in various areas to the Afghans.

“This assistance is from the Qatari charity committees for earthquake-affected people in Herat. Our aid is not only limited to the earthquake-affected people, but we want to continue our assistance to the Afghans in other areas,” he said.

A series of earthquakes hit Herat province in western Afghanistan between 7 and 15 October 2023.

The earthquake left 1,482 dead and 2,100 injured, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at the time.

3,330 residences were destroyed, according to the UN agency, and an estimated 114,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance.