India flies tons of essentials to quake-rocked Afghanistan

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India is sending family tents, blankets and other relief supplies for a team to distribute in eastern Afghan villages where a deadly earthquake collapsed thousands of timber and stone homes to rubble. Close to 3,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged, and the death toll rose to 1,150 people with scores more wounded after the magnitude 6 quake Wednesday. The 27 tons of humanitarian supplies are being sent to the capital Kabul, where the United Nations and others will coordinate distribution. India’s embassy has been vacant since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August. A statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to “providing immediate relief assistance for the Afghan people.”