Chinese military supports Afghan counterpart in fighting COVID-19

KABUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese military has provided medical supplies to its Afghan counterpart to help it fight the COVID-19 and the hand-over ceremony was held here on Tuesday.

"The military forces of China and Afghanistan have a long history of mutual help and support," Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu said at the ceremony which was also attended by Deputy Defence Minister of Afghanistan Munira Yusufzada.

"The virus sees no borders, and is the common enemy of all human-kind," Wang added. "Only by solidarity and joint efforts can we defeat the virus."

Yusufzada expressed gratitude to Ambassador Wang on behalf of the Afghan military forces, saying that the medical assistance provided by the Chinese military is very timely, and will play a significant role in Afghanistan's fight against the COVID-19.

"The Afghan military forces are willing to enhance cooperation with the Chinese military in all fields, including fighting the pandemic," Yusufzada said.

This is the third batch of medical assistance China has provided to Afghanistan since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the war-torn country in late February.

A total of 259 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Afghanistan within the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5226.