Manzoor Pashteen, the leader of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), announced that the Pakistani authorities prevented his group's campaign to collect aid for the Herat earthquake victims.
He criticised the Pakistani government for preventing the "humane expression of Pashtun sympathy".
Pashteen is one of the influential leaders of Pashtuns in Pakistan, who has repeatedly criticised the country's government and army for illegal killings and kidnappings in tribal areas and has held demonstrations for the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
The PTM leader wrote on Facebook on Thursday that his group’s members set up aid collection tents to help the earthquake victims of Herat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including in Quetta city of Baluchistan province. However, the Pakistani authorities did not allow them to do so and shut down the tents.
He added, "How deprived are the Pashtuns that they are not even allowed human sympathy."
At the same time as the scope of damages and needs became more apparent following two powerful earthquakes in western Afghanistan in the last five days, more countries have announced financial commitments for the victims of the earthquake.
In the latest case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea announced on Thursday that it will donate one million dollars to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Herat.
The ministry said in a statement that emergency aid would be sent through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
