As other members of the armed forces have been ordered to stay in place to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, scheduled rotations of US Army troops to Afghanistan, Iraq and Europe will still take place.

Officials from the US Army announced that several Army units will indeed be deploying in the coming months, despite the ongoing pandemic from the highly contagious COVID-19 novel coronavirus.

According to the Army Times, the 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, will replace the 3rd Security Forces Assistance Brigade as part of Operation Freedom Sentinel in Afghanistan.

This announcement comes shortly after the Pentagon moved to extend an ongoing stop movement order until June 30. On March 25, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued the order, originally set to last 60 days, for all those “uniformed and civilian personnel and their sponsored family members overseas.”

American Muslims prepare for online prayers and virtual gatherings in a month of fasting typically marked by human connection.

With Ramadan starting on 23 April, Muslims around the world will refrain from food and drink every day from sunrise to sunset during the holiest month in Islam. But this year, Covid-19 will rob millions of Muslims across the US from congregating for prayers, iftar and other Ramadan customs.

This year, Muslims will have to go the virtual route.

The Islamic Center of Central Missouri hosts upwards of 1,000 people at its weekly Friday service. Now, only 20 to 40 people are logging in to online events. Mosque leaders hope the turnout will increase as Ramadan starts.

“It is an experiment, it is a test from God and we have a lot of lessons to learn,” said Shakir Hamoodi, an imam.

People will be keeping up with friends through Zoom calls hosted by the mosque’s youth program. They meet for an hour online three days a week to learn about Islam and play games like Pictionary together.

The Islamic Center at New York University, one of the most popular meet-up spots for prayer and daily iftars, serves about 10,000 Muslims across the city. Imam Khalid Latif, the center’s chaplain, estimates that approximately 1,000 people typically attend its free iftars every day.

The Taliban have returned to an all-out offensive on the battlefield, killing dozens of Afghan security forces each day, officials say, even as American officials try to keep alive a scuttled peace deal to end the long war in Afghanistan.

As per the Nytimes report, the insurgents have ignored appeals for a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds as the fast-spreading coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the country’s feeble health system and wreck an economy already dependent on foreign donations.

They accuse the United States of not upholding its end of the deal signed in February, which promised the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government in a matter of 10 days, as a prelude to direct talks between the two Afghan sides on a cease-fire and power-sharing.

The Embassy of Afghanistan has written to the Indian ministry of external affair and authorities of Noida, Delhi and Phagwara in Punjab to facilitate the movement of their nationals so that they catch a special flight from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on April 25.

The Afghanistan government has decided to evacuate its national stuck in India, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The external affairs ministry has issued a letter with details of vehicles ferrying Afghan nationals and their names for the authorities of Noida, Delhi and Phagwara for hassle-free movement to reach the airport.

All Afghan nationals have to board the special flight at 5.30pm Saturday.

Around 171 Afghan nationals living in these three cities will be leaving for Kabul. The list includes students from the Lovely Professional University in Phagwara, Punjab, Sharda University and Noida International University.

Around 50 of them are in Greater Noida, of whom 41 are students of Sharda University. The other Afghan nationals are those who had come to India on medical emergencies or for personal reasons.

“The Covid-19 situation is same all over the world. Our nationals are safe in India. We have arranged a special fight to bring them back to Afghanistan. We have provided the list of our citizens who will be travelling from Noida, Punjab and Delhi to reach the IGI Airport,” Sediqullah Sahar, education attache, Afghanistan embassy in Delhi, said.

Afghan officials at the Health Department of Ghazni province say the fifth patient has died of the coronavirus in the province.

The Ghazni governor press office in a statement said the patient died on Friday night.

According to the statement, the patient was a resident of Roza village, the center of Ghazni province.

This comes as the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country reaches 1463.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) says at least 133 new cases of the coronavirus were registered in the country during the past 24 hours.

The spokesman of MoPH, Wahidullah Mayar in a press conference said that the new cases include 25 cases in Herat, 21 in Balkh, 20 in Kandahar, 16 in Kabul, 7 in Nimroz, 7 in Samangan and three cases in each provinces of Zabul, Kapisa, Logar, Takhar, two cases in each provinces of Ghor, Bamiyan, Uruzgan, and one in each provinces of Baghlan, Maidan Wardak, Helmand and Parwan.

According to Mayar, four patients have died of the coronavirus during the past 24 hours which the death toll reaches 47 in the country.

This comes as the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country reaches 1463.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has highlighted the importance of peace and cultivating broader cooperation for the development at societal level though enhanced people-to-people contacts and sustained parliamentary level exchanges.

The people on both sides of the border of tired of the jingoistic environment and want peace to flourish in order to realizing the investment in healthcare and infrastructure development.

These thoughts were shared by experts, including diplomats, social and peace activists and journalists, during an online policy dialogue titled ‘Necessity of Revival of Afghanistan-Pakistan Dialogue in Shadow of the Corona Epidemic’ organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Friday.

Director of Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Dr Orzala Nemat, while presenting an overview of stability in Afghanistan, said peace in Afghanistan remained evasive as after a short interval of peace resulted by US-Taliban deal, 2,417 acts of the violence had been reported in the last five weeks.

She regretted that even the deadly pandemic could not deter the ongoing violence. “It could lead the country of 35 million people that lack the basic facilities including the healthcare services, to a humanitarian disaster. Therefore, it’s high time for the civil society to come out and play the vibrant role for the peace in Afghanistan,” she added.

Officials at the Public Health department in Herat province say at least 25 new cases of the coronavirus have been registered in the province.

The spokesman Health Department in Herat, Muhammad Rafiq Sherzai says about 82 suspected cases of coronavirus have been registered in the province which 25 of them confirmed positive.

According to Sherzai, the new cases include 16 men and 9 women.

This comes as the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Herat reaches 386 which 97 of them have been recorded and and seven others died of the virus.