Rescue efforts enter 3rd day as relief arrives in quake-hit eastern Afghanistan

In a post on the US social media company X, interim Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said 1,457 people have been killed in Kunar province, the hardest hit by Monday's earthquake, with rescuers recovering more bodies from the rubble on Wednesday.

The number of injured in Kunar has also risen to 3,994, with 6,782 houses destroyed by the 6.0 magnitude tremor, he said.

Authorities fear that the death toll may rise further when authorities share data from the other three provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, and Panjshir.

At least 12 deaths have already been reported in Nangarhar province.

A Taliban official in Kunar province, speaking to Anadolu on condition of anonymity, said relief supplies began arriving last night in some remote areas as the administration initially planned to move people to safer areas.

“Locals refused to leave because the bodies of their loved ones were still under the rubble. We then started distributing tents and other essential items,” the official said.

He said the mountainous terrain and damaged roads have made it difficult to deliver aid, but still rescue and relief teams arrived in all affected areas.

“We are sending relief goods by vehicles where possible, but in areas cut off by the earthquake, helicopters are being used to transport supplies and evacuate the injured to hospitals,” said the official.

In a related development, acting Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi discussed with Afghan diplomatic missions abroad the assistance provided to the earthquake-affected people in Kunar and the surrounding provinces.

Muttaqi advised all diplomatic missions to contact and inform government officials, charitable institutions, and well-wishers in their respective countries about the post-earthquake situation, as well as to make efforts to deliver aid and necessary facilities, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

On Tuesday, a fresh 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan that was also felt in northwestern Pakistan.

Humanitarian agencies warn that the scale of devastation requires urgent international support to prevent a worsening crisis.

On Tuesday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Indrika Ratwatte said that the devastating earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan at a time of multiple crises for that country.

“So, looking at the stats, looking at the remoteness and the topography, which is extremely challenging and remote, potentially the impacted individuals could go up to almost into the hundreds of thousands," Ratwatte said.

Several nations, including neighboring Pakistan, Iran, China, and India, as well as Western nations, have pledged to send aid to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Cricket Board Chairman Mirwais Ashraf also urged international aid organizations to help the earthquake victims in Kunar, emphasizing that while assistance is essential, banking restrictions have hampered efforts.

The US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 11.47 pm local time (1917GMT), located 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad at a depth of 8 km (5 mi) on Sunday night, when most of the residents were asleep.

It is the third major earthquake to have hit a war-torn nation since the return of the Afghan Taliban to power in August 2021.