Armenia will render humanitarian aid to Tajikistan to help the Central Asian republic cope with the consequences of heavy floods that claimed human lives and caused vast destruction early this month.


According to a report by the Armenian Government’s Information and Public Relations Department, at the meeting on Thursday chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the Cabinet of Ministers decided “to allocate $100,000 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a view to extending humanitarian aid to the government of Tajikistan.”

More than two dozen people were killed and many went missing after heavy rains led to floods and mudslides in southern Tajikistan last week. An estimated 100,000 residents in the province bordering on Afghanistan remained without food, clothes and medical supplies in the immediate aftermath of the natural calamity.

The decision of the Armenian government follows an appeal from the Central Asian republic’s president Emomali Rahmon to the international community for help. Tajik authorities estimate that the mudslides and floods have caused more than US$100 million-worth of damage to the poor republic.

Tajikistan is one of five former Soviet republics that along with Armenia form the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led defense alliance.