Jalalabad, Afghanistan (AP) – Hundreds of more bodies have been recovered from a house in a destroyed mountain village Major earthquake Earlier this week, Afghanistan pushed the death toll to above 2,200, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.
The shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country’s mountainous regions and far away eastern areas late on Sunday, leveling the villages and locking people under the tiled rub. Most of the victims are in Kunar province, where people usually live in timber and mud brick houses along steep river valleys separated by alpine mountains.
Approximately 98% of buildings in the state have been damaged or destroyed, according to an assessment issued Thursday by the Islamic Relief Charity. The aid agency said they are in great need of staff and supplies to deal with survivors in the area.
Muhammad Israel said the earthquake unleashed a landslide that buried his home, livestock and belongings in Kunar. “All the rocks have come down from the mountains,” he said. “I barely kicked the child out of it. …The shock of the earthquake is still happening. It’s impossible to live there.”
Late Thursday, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake rattled Jalalabad in Nangarhar province.
Israel was staying at the United Nations Medical Camp in Nurgar, one of the worst affected districts in Kunar. “The situation here is also bad for us. We have no shelter and live under an open sky,” he said.
Previous estimates stated that around 1,400 people had died. Taliban spokesman Hamdula Fitrat said on Thursday that the updated death toll was 2,205, with search and rescue operations continuing.
“The tents are set up for people and first aid and emergency delivery are underway,” Fitrat said.
The rough terrain is hindering relief efforts. Taliban authorities deployed helicopters and army commanders across the Air Force to assist the survivors. Aid workers report walking for hours to reach villages that are blocked by landslides and quarters of rock.
Fund reduction It also affects the response. The Norwegian Refugee Council said there were less than 450 staff members in Afghanistan, while there were 1,100 in 2023. Date of the last major earthquake In the country. There was only one warehouse left on the council and no emergency stocks.
“When you receive the funds, you have to buy items, which potentially takes weeks and people are struggling right now,” said Maisam Shafiey, Communications and Advocacy Advisor for the Afghan Council.
“Only $100,000 can be used to support emergency response efforts, leaving an immediate funding gap of $1.9 million,” Shafiey said.
Dr Shamshere Khan, who was present at the injured at the UN camp in Nurgarh, said that his own condition had deteriorated after seeing the suffering of others.
“These medicines aren’t enough either,” he said. “These people need more medicines and tents. They need food and clean drinking water. These people are in great pain.”
Qatar International Cooperation Minister Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser al Mizunad arrived in Kabul on Wednesday to oversee the provision of assistance to earthquake victims.
She is the first female pastor to visit Afghanistan on a humanitarian mission since the Taliban came to power in 2021, and the first high-ranking foreign official to travel there since the earthquake.
Aid organizations describe the latest disaster as a crisis amid the crisis. Afghanistan was already struggling with drought, economic weakness and the recent revival of around 2 million Afghans from neighboring countries.
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Associated Press writer Hedayat Shah has been a contribution from Nurgal in Afghanistan, with Abdul Qahar Afghani from Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
