Taliban calls for international aid after earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people in Afghanistan

The earthquake – the country’s deadliest in two decades – has posed a significant challenge to the Taliban, the Islamist group that regained control of the country in August 2021 after nearly 20 years of a US-led military occupation.

“Unfortunately, the government is under sanctions, so it is financially unable to help people as needed,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a senior Taliban official.

According to Qahar Balkhi, “International agencies are helping, neighboring or even distant countries have offered their assistance, which we thank and welcome. Assistance needs to be scaled up to a large extent because this is a devastating earthquake that has not been experienced in decades.”

The number of people under the rubble is unknown. Health and humanitarian workers said the rescue operation was particularly difficult because of the weather conditions in the region. In more remote areas, helicopters have been used to transport victims to hospitals.

Both the UN and Pakistani aid agencies are working on humanitarian support, which includes sending medical teams and resources to the affected area.

A relief agency, Intersos, said it was ready to send an emergency medical team consisting of two surgeons, an anesthesiologist and two nurses.

Most of the confirmed victims so far lived in the Gayan and Barmal districts of Paktika, a local doctor told the BBC. An entire village in Gayan would have been destroyed.

“There was a crash and my bed started to shake,” one survivor, who gave his name only as Shabir, told the BBC.

“The ceiling fell. I was trapped, but I could see the sky. My shoulder was dislocated, my head was injured, but I managed to get out. I’m sure between seven and nine people in my family, who were in the same room as me, are dead”‘Every street you go you hear mourning’

A doctor who works in Paktika told the BBC, on condition of anonymity, that health professionals were among the victims.

“We didn’t have enough staff or hospital facilities before the earthquake, and now the earthquake has ruined what little we had. I don’t know how many of my colleagues are still alive,” he said.

Communication after the earthquake is difficult because of damage to mobile phone towers and the death toll could rise even further, another local journalist in the area told the BBC.

“Many people are not aware of the condition of their relatives because their phones are not working. My brother and his family died, and I only found out after many hours. Many villages were destroyed,” said the journalist.

Afghanistan is an earthquake prone country as it is located in a region of the planet with active tectonic plates. Its territory comprises several fault lines, including the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Badakhshan Central fault and the Darvaz fault.

In the last decade, more than 7,000 people have been killed in earthquakes in the country, according to the UN Department for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. There are an average of 560 deaths per year as a result of earthquakes.

More recently, in January, consecutive earthquakes in the west of the country killed more than 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Even before the Taliban took over central power, Afghanistan’s emergency services were overwhelmed to deal with natural disasters – with few aircraft and helicopters available for first responders.

But in recent months, the country has experienced an acute shortage of medical supplies, amid a widespread shortage of almost all essential items. The withdrawal of US military forces resulted in the departure of many workers from international agencies.

And the Taliban government, which adopts Islamic Sharia law and recently re-banned education for women and teenagers, is seen as an international pariah, with which few countries have close relations.

According to the UN, 93% of families in Afghanistan are food insecure. Lucien Christen of the Red Cross said Afghanistan’s “dreadful economic situation” meant that “they [as famílias afegãs] can’t put food on the table”.

Have you watched our new videos on YouTube? Subscribe to our channel!