80 Afghan citizens killed in Italian shipwreck, confirms Taliban foreign ministry

Kabul: Afghanistan’s Taliban-led foreign ministry said on Tuesday that 80 Afghan citizens, including children, had died in Sunday’s shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy. Rescuers have so far confirmed at least 64 people were killed after a sailboat sank in heavy seas near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria. Eighty people had been rescued and more people were believed to be missing. “With great sadness, we learned … that 80 Afghan refugees, including women and children, who were travelling from Türkiye to Italy in a wooden boat, drowned and died in the southern sea of ​​Italy,” the Afghan foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan prays for forgiveness for the martyrs and patience for the families and relatives of the victims, urging all citizens once again to avoid going to foreign countries through irregular migration,” the statement added, referring to the Taliban’s name for its government. The boat had set sail from the port of Izmir in western Turkey. The U.N. refugee agency has said almost half of arrivals by sea between Turkey and Italy last year were Afghans. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Italy by boat over the past decade, fleeing conflict and poverty back home. The United Nations Missing Migrants Project has also registered more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, including more than 220 this year, making it the most dangerous migrant route in the world. The vast majority of migrant boats set sail from North Africa, but increasing numbers have left from Turkey over the past two years, to avoid lengthy and perilous journeys through Egypt and Libya. The boat that sank off Calabria departed from the western Turkish port of Izmir about four days ago and was spotted 74 km (46 miles) off the coast late on Saturday by a plane operated by European Union border agency Frontex. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.