More than 1,400 people have already died in the earthquake that shook eastern Afghanistan on Sunday evening, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban government, said today, quoted by the Associated Press, BTA reported.
The magnitude 6.0 quake caused massive destruction in several provinces, destroying entire villages and trapping thousands of people under the rubble of their homes. A UN official said rescue teams were "in a race against time" to find survivors in the affected mountainous areas.
It is the third major earthquake in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, and the latest disaster to hit the country, which is struggling with drastic cuts in international financial aid, a weak economy and millions of forcibly deported refugees from Iran and Pakistan, the AP notes. The Taliban government, recognized only by Russia, has appealed to governments and humanitarian organizations for help, but funds for aid are scarce due to the many crises in the world and the reduced aid budgets of donor countries.
There is also opposition to the Taliban government's restrictive policies that prohibit women and girls from working in non-governmental organizations, the AP points out.
More than 420 health facilities have closed or ceased operations due to drastic funding cuts, 80 of them in the east of the country, where the earthquake was also the epicenter, said Kate Kerry, deputy head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan. Overburdened institutions, fewer staff and insufficient availability of medicines are further weakening the ability to deal with the crisis, Kerry added.