VOA News
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said Tuesday that 80 Afghan nationals, including women and children, died in a shipwreck this week off the southern coast of Italy.
Rescuers have so far confirmed at least 64 people were killed and 80 rescued after a wooden boat carrying hundreds of migrants on Sunday sank in heavy seas near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria.
Officials overseeing rescue efforts fear the death toll may still rise.
“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,” Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi 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,” Balkhi said, using the official title of the Taliban government.
Neighboring Pakistan also confirmed Tuesday that two of its citizens were killed and another 17 survived.
Survivors estimate that between 150 to 200 people, many of them from Pakistan and Afghanistan, were on board the vessel that began its journey a few days ago from Turkey.
Three men, a Turkish national and two Pakistani nationals, have reportedly been arrested by Italian authorities on suspected human trafficking charges.
Huge piles of debris from the vessel began washing up on the beach Monday near Steccato di Cutro, including wood, gas tanks, food containers and children’s toys.
More than 105,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2022, with most coming from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
Italy has asked other European Union countries to step up and take in some of the migrants, many of whom are not looking to stay in Italy, but instead are focused on traveling elsewhere in Europe to find work and/or reunite with family members.
The government of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has approved legislation that has placed strict restrictions on humanitarian groups’ ability to deploy boats to assist with rescues. – gb