Hawzah News Agency - (Islamabad - Pakistan) - Turkey’s state-run aid agency on Wednesday distributed food packages to 600 families in Pakistan's northeastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

The ongoing lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus has deprived a large number of daily wage workers of their source of income.

Some 300 food ration bags were distributed in the city of Lahore, while as many were distributed in Mardan, said a statement by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA).

In Mardan, Pakistani lawmaker Shaheen Saifullah distributed the aid among the parents of deaf and mute children.

"The children at the Center for Speech and Hearing (CSH) #Mardan may not be able to talk or hear, but by Lord, we hear them," Mustafa Yurdakul, Turkey's ambassador to Pakistan, tweeted after the ceremony.

"We will not abandon our Pakistani brothers and sisters in this testing time," said Gökhan Umut, TIKA's Islamabad Coordinator.

TİKA has also distributed 50,000 surgical masks and food packages in Multan city, Umut added.

Over the course of the holy month, the Turkish aid agency is set to distribute 2,500 food packages in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.