Officials from the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) in the southwest of the country say they treated 700 children with heart defects last year and plan to treat another 15,000 children this year.

Marking World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day under the theme this year of “Keeping Humanity Alive”, officials and residents in Kandahar and Balkh provinces appealed to international organizations to continue helping Afghans.

Balkh local officials said support from ARCS had been received in the health, food preparation and cash distribution sectors.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society helps needy families across the country and coordinates and distributes humanitarian aid for other organizations.

Marking this day, IEA’s Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund also called on the people to help needy families.

According to a statement, Akhund asked aid organizations to increase and speed up their assistance in various sectors including health, economic assistance, and reconstruction.

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister, said Wednesday in a meeting with a number of elders, scholars and youths of the Hazara ethnic group in Kabul that justice in light of Islamic Sharia is applied equally to everyone.

The deputy PM’s office said in a statement that Kabir stressed that discrimination and prejudice have no place in the Islamic system, but the main goal is to serve the people.

“There is no place for ethnic, sectarian and linguistic prejudices and hypocrisy in Afghanistan. All Afghans should work together for the construction, development and prosperity of Afghanistan,” the statement read.

At the gathering, elders and scholars of the Hazara community demanded resolutions regarding their legal cases and other problems and assured the IEA of comprehensive cooperation with the Islamic system, the statement added.

Eight security force members were killed and wounded in an IED explosion in Badakhshan province on Wednesday morning, officials confirmed.

The Ministry of Interior said three policemen died and five others were wounded in the explosion.

Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, said: “Unfortunately, at around 11:00 AM today, a sticky mine (magnetic IED) that was already embedded in a motorcycle exploded in the Jawozon area of Faizabad city, Badakhshan province.”

According to Qani the device detonated while a convoy of police was traveling through the area. Police had been carrying out a poppy clearing operation.

Police are investigating the incident, Qani said.

So far, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the explosion.