"The Islamic Emirate [Taliban], which is seriously concerned, calls on prisoners to protect themselves from the virus, and then calls on international legal and health organizations and charitable organizations to pay serious and special attention to Afghan prisons", the Taliban said in a statement.
According to the militants, there are approximately 40,000 group members in Afghan prisons, which lack health facilities.
9 March 2020, 13:33 GMT
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission requested the Taliban to allow health workers into militant-controlled areas of the country in order to spread awareness amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Afghanistan has so far confirmed 16 COVID-19 cases in the country. So far, the virus has killed over 5,800 people worldwide, and over 156,000 people have contracted the disease.
*Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia
