Turkey delivers second batch of medical supplies to Somalia to fight COVID-19
A400M-type military cargo plane carrying medical aid supplies pictured at the Etimesgut Military Airport in Ankara on Monday, May 4, 2020 (AA Photo)


Turkey sent a second shipment of medical supplies to Somalia on Monday to help the country combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

An A-400M military plane carrying supplies including stretchers, beds and quilt covers departed from Etimesgut Military Airport in the capital Ankara.

On Saturday, Turkey sent a shipment of medical supplies to Somalia, including new Turkish-made ventilators.

After Turkey's all-out efforts to develop its own ventilators, which bore fruit last month, Somalia - which lacked the devices, which are critical for fighting the coronavirus - became the first country it sent the ventilators to.

The medical aid packages bore the Turkish presidential seal along with the Turkish and Somali flags and a famous saying by 13th-century Sufi mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi: "There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness."