COVID-19: Afghan govt to release 10,000 prisoners to curb spread, excludes ISIS, Taliban

Afghanistan government on Thursday decided to release up to 10,000 prisoners in the wake of the Coronavirus scare. Prisoners, including women and children, will be released on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's decree. The Afghan government said that those being released will 'not pose a major threat'.

According to TOLO News, the Afghan Public Health Minister said that prisoner release was the only precaution in the absence of 'vaccine or treatment'.  It was reported that criminals who have acted against national, international security and are imprisoned under terror-related crimes are not a part of this release. The Taliban or Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists are not included in this list. 

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Coronavirus in Afghanistan

With the rising cases of Coronavirus across the world, Afghanistan has recorded a total of 94 confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon with 4 total deaths. Bordering with Iran that confirmed 29,406 positive cases and 2,234 deaths, the Herat province of Afghanistan remains a crucial threat with due to people fleeing from Afghan's neighbour and the country's poor health facilities. 

However, despite the threat, Al Jazeera reported on March 25 that most of them coming into Afghanistan from Iran have not put themselves in self-isolation. The Afghan government has persistently urged its citizens to practice social distancing. Afghan's health ministry earlier this week said that half of Afghanistan's population might be infected with Coronavirus. 

Addressing the SAARC conference on mooting a common strategy to combat COVID-19 on Sunday, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Ghani, his country’s biggest vulnerability was the open border with Iran. Thereafter, he suggested various proposals such as creating a SAARC task force, a common framework for telemedicine, ensuring essential cross-border trade and India taking the lead in distance education.

“I have the following 5 proposals. One, modelling of diffusion impacts the scenarios in management. Unless we model the diffusion we will be facing, assumptions from China, the US or Iran are not suitable for our situation. I request a task force of SAARC to be able to do this.” 

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