Difficult terrain and damaged roads obstruct rescue missions
More than 800 people have died and around 2,500 have been injured after a magnitude-6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, Taliban officials announced. Relief teams are struggling to access the hardest-hit mountain districts after landslides and destroyed roads left many villages cut off.
The quake, centered near the Pakistani border, inflicted the greatest destruction in Kunar province. Its shallow depth amplified the devastation, with shocks reverberating through Kabul, more than 100 miles away. Aftershocks continued into Monday, rattling communities already in ruins.
Hospitals pushed beyond capacity
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the climbing death toll, warning that more bodies remain under collapsed homes. Hospitals, particularly in Asadabad, are overwhelmed by the constant flow of injured.
Among the victims was the family of Rasheed Khan, a cloth seller in Kabul originally from Watpur village. “I lost my wife, three children, and two brothers,” he said. “I have no idea how many more of my relatives are still buried.”
Emergency aid slowed by isolation
The defence ministry dispatched doctors and medical supplies to Kunar, but relief teams say many villages can only be reached by air. Officials urged aid groups to send mobile hospitals, food, tents, water, and equipment to clear wreckage.
Years of underfunding and the collapse of international support since the Taliban’s return in 2021 have left Afghanistan’s health system fragile. Jeremy Smith of the Red Cross said the remoteness of the quake zone and continuing tremors have made rescue work hazardous.
Whole villages destroyed
Traditional houses built from mud and stone were reduced to rubble. In Masood village, nearly every family has lost members, and rescuers believe up to 250 people may have died there alone. Casualties have also been reported in Laghman and Nuristan provinces, though full assessments are pending.
Muhammad Aziz from Nur Gul said ten of his relatives, including his five children, were killed. “Our homes are gone. People are digging with their bare hands to find loved ones,” he said.
International help pledged
China has offered relief assistance, while India delivered tents and food shipments. The United Nations prepared to mobilize emergency support, and Pope Leo conveyed condolences to Afghanistan.
The disaster adds to Afghanistan’s existing hardships: economic collapse, mass refugee returns from Iran and Pakistan, and widespread hunger. The UN estimates that more than half of the country’s 42 million people already need humanitarian aid.
Afghanistan’s position along active seismic faults makes it prone to deadly earthquakes. Last year, tremors in the west killed over 1,000, while an October 2023 quake measuring 6.3 left thousands dead in one of the country’s most catastrophic natural disasters in decades.
