On Tuesday night, the foreign ministry of the Taliban reported that the shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy on Sunday claimed the lives of 80 Afghan migrants, including women and children.
"We discovered with great grief that 80 Afghan migrants, including women and children, who were going from Turkey to Italy in a wooden boat, drowned and died in the southern sea of Italy," the Taliban stated in a statement.
The foreign ministry of the Taliban also encouraged aid organisations involved in the search and rescue operation to help with the return of the deceased's bodies to Afghanistan.
No other information was provided, and the identities of the deceased Afghan migrants have not yet been made public.
Nevertheless, rescuers earlier on Tuesday reported that at least 64 people perished after the boat capsized in rough seas close to Steccato di Cutro, a beach resort on Calabria's eastern coast. Eighty persons had been saved, and it was thought that many were still missing.In order to identify the deceased, Italian authorities had also pleaded with relatives of migrants on the boat to offer descriptions and pictures of their loved ones.
Authorities in Italy acknowledged on Monday that many of the migrants on board the boat were from Afghanistan. Pakistanis, Somalians, and Iraqis were also on board.
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