Afghanistan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to over 2,000 as Aid Struggles to Reach Isolated Areas
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The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan earlier this week has risen to 2,205, according to a spokesperson for the Taliban government\u2014The Guardian reported. The magnitude 6.0 quake hit remote, mountainous areas of Kunar province late Sunday, destroying villages and triggering landslides that buried homes and families. <\/p>\n
Most residents in the region live in fragile mud-brick houses built along steep valleys, which collapsed under the force of the quake. According to Islamic Relief, around 98% of buildings in the affected region have been either damaged or completely destroyed. Aid groups warn that survivors are in urgent need of shelter, medical care, food, and clean water.<\/p>\n
One of the survivors, now sheltering at a UN medical camp in Nurgal, one of the worst-hit districts, said, \u201cThe earthquake jolts are still happening. It is impossible to live there. We\u2019re living under open skies.\u201d Rugged terrain and continued aftershocks are hampering relief efforts. <\/p>\n
The Taliban has deployed helicopters and army commandos to assist, but aid workers say many areas are accessible only on foot due to landslides and rockfalls. Humanitarian agencies are also facing major funding gaps. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said it now has fewer than 450 staff in Afghanistan\u2014less than half its 2023 capacity. \u201cWe have only $100,000 available for emergency response. There’s an immediate $1.9 million funding gap,\u201d said NRC advocacy adviser Maisam Shafiey.<\/p>\n
Dr. Shamshair Khan, working at the UN medical camp, warned that the current resources are not enough. \u201cThese people need more medicine, more tents, more food and water. These people are in great pain,\u201d he said. Even before the earthquake, Afghanistan was already grappling with widespread poverty, prolonged drought, and the return of nearly 2 million people deported from neighboring countries. The recent disaster has deepened an already dire humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afghanistan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to over 2,000 as Aid Struggles to Reach Isolated Areas ………….. The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan earlier this week has risen to 2,205, according to a spokesperson for the Taliban government\u2014The Guardian reported. The magnitude 6.0 quake hit remote, mountainous areas of Kunar province …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan"],"yoast_head":"\n