Amid heavy rains, rescue teams began arriving this Thursday (23) in remote areas of eastern Afghanistan, where a powerful earthquake left at least 1,000 dead and thousands homeless the day before. The government also reported 1,500 injuries and 3,000 homes destroyed.
The 6.1 magnitude quake struck about 100 miles southeast of Kabul, in mountains dotted with small settlements near the Pakistani border. The phenomenon toppled cell phone towers and power lines, as well as causing landslides, blocking roads in the mountains.
Dozens of survivors were taken to area hospitals, including Bibi Hawa, 55, who lives in Gayan district, one of the worst affected. She says she has lost 15 members of her family. “Seven died in one room, five in another and three in another,” she said. “Now I’m alone, I don’t have anyone.”
“It is very difficult to get information from the site due to the poor internet,” said Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, an information officer for Paktika province, on Thursday. He said heavy rains in the region caused flooding, delayed rescue efforts and damaged telephone and electrical networks.
Mohammad Ismail Muawiyah, a spokesman for the Taliban’s top military commander, told Reuters news agency this afternoon that the rescue operation was over and that no one was trapped under the rubble, without explaining how it was possible to confirm the information. According to the Ministry of Disasters, the searches have ended in the main districts, but continue in more isolated areas.
The disaster poses a logistical challenge for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which is internationally isolated because of the extremist policies it imposes, with discrimination against women and girls in particular. When the group regained power in August last year, almost all international aid to the country was cut off. Since then, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated alarmingly.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the organization was “fully mobilised” and would send health teams and provide medicine and food to residents in the earthquake zone.
On social media, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, called for “immediate and comprehensive international assistance to the Afghan people”. UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths, however, told the Security Council on Thursday that the Taliban was interfering with the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“We’ve seen limited progress due to de facto resistance from the authorities. This is a problem that will not solve itself,” he said. “The formal banking system continues to block transfers due to excessive risk, impacting payment channels and causing supply chain failures.”
The country’s economy is collapsing, drought has crippled food production and 9 million Afghans face hunger. Some families were forced to sell children and organs to survive, Guterres said. According to the UN, the World Food Program (WFP) is sending food and logistical equipment to the affected areas, to initially support 3,000 families.
In the district of Bermal, an area of ​​hard-to-reach villages, survivors dig graves to bury the dead. “We didn’t even have a shovel to dig, so we used a tractor. We buried 60 people yesterday and there are 30 more to bury. People are working non-stop,” said Zaitullah Ghurziwal, 21. “There are no blankets, there are no tents, there are no shelters. Our entire water distribution system is destroyed. Everything is devastated, houses are destroyed. There is literally nothing to eat.”
According to the Afghan government, aid flights have arrived from Qatar and Iran. Meanwhile, Pakistan has sent truckloads of tents, medical supplies and food across the land border.
