The deliveries of food to Afghanistan, where about 300 people have died of hunger and cold during an unusually severe winter, were set up by the UN World Food Program. Russia is one of the program's leading donors, providing a total of 17,800 tons of flour to the restive Central Asian country.
"As of March 9, at least 116 rail cars with 8,700 tons of flour had been unloaded in the Afghan city of Hairaton on the border with Uzbekistan," Georgy Mishin said.
"Therefore, Russia has delivered 48.9% of the food supplies, or almost a half of the promised humanitarian aid to the Afghan people," the diplomat said.
Mishin added that under favorable conditions the deliveries of high-quality flour to Afghanistan could be completed by mid-April.
Since 2002, Russia has delivered humanitarian aid worth over $40 million to Afghanistan.
