The coronavirus pandemic will certainly affect the Afghan peace process, but the government in Kabul and the Taliban movement are engaged in negotiations on coordinating COVID-19 response on the Taliban-controlled areas, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Aexander Mantytsky told Sputnik on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The coronavirus pandemic will certainly affect the Afghan peace process, but the government in Kabul and the Taliban movement are engaged in negotiations on coordinating COVID-19 response on the Taliban-controlled areas, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Aexander Mantytsky told Sputnik on Wednesday.
According to forecasts of the World Health Organization and the Afghan Health Ministry, over 16 million people, or 50 percent of the Afghan population, may contract the disease, the ambassador noted.
"This will certainly affect both the country's armed forces and the Taliban movement. The Afghan government is engaged in negotiations with the Taliban on coordinating approaches on COVID-19 response on territories controlled by the armed opposition," Mantytsky said.
"The peace process will certainly face new challenges amid the coronavirus," the diplomat added.
