Organized rescue efforts are struggling to reach the site of an earthquake in Afghanistan that has killed more than 1,000 people, while survivors dig by hand through the rubble to find those still missing.
In the hard-hit Gayan district of Paktika province, villagers stood on top of mud bricks that were once a house. Others walked carefully through the dirt alleys, clinging to the damaged walls with exposed wooden beams to make their way.
The quake was the deadliest in Afghanistan in two decades, and officials said the toll could rise. An estimated 1,500 more people were injured, the state news agency said.
The quake struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning in an area near the border with Pakistan. Rescue efforts have been complicated by the fact that many countries have suspended or reduced aid to Afghanistan since the Taliban took power last year.
How, and if the Taliban allow it, the world offered help remained in question as rescuers without heavy equipment dug as much rubble as they could.
As a sign of the confusing work between the Taliban and the rest of the world, the Taliban had not formally requested the UN to mobilize international search and rescue teams or to obtain equipment from neighboring countries to complement the a few dozen ambulances and several helicopters. sent by the Afghan authorities, said Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The bread is being carried from one of the few helicopters available to the Taliban for aid efforts in Gayan. Photo: Ali Khara / Reuters
Rescue efforts have been hampered by rural road accidents and recent heavy rains and hail.
“We ask the Islamic Emirate and the whole country to come forward and help us,” said a survivor who gave his name as Hakimullah. “We have nothing and we have nothing, not even a tent to live on.”
The full extent of the destruction among the peoples hidden in the mountains took a long time to come to light. However, officials from various UN agencies said the Taliban were allowing full access to the area.
The UN said its World Food Program (WFP) was sending food and logistics equipment to the affected areas, with the goal of initially supporting 3,000 households.
“The Afghan people are already facing an unprecedented crisis after decades of conflict, a severe drought and an economic recession,” said Gordon Craig, WFP’s deputy country director for Afghanistan. “The earthquake will only increase the already massive humanitarian needs they suffer on a daily basis.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that eight food trucks and other essentials from Pakistan had arrived in Paktika. He also said on Thursday that two humanitarian aid planes from Iran and another from Qatar had arrived in Afghanistan.
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However, other Taliban officials stressed the difficulties they had in stepping up the rescue effort.
Gholam Ghaos Naseri, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for natural disaster management, said: “We have sent dozens of people to rescue people from the rubble, but it is not enough. Iran has promised us help and their rescue crews are on their way to the area.
“We urge the international humanitarian community, NGOs and humanitarian agencies not to leave our people alone in this terrible time. Help our people. At the moment, we need things like food, tents, clothes and drugs.
“We have sent dozens of people to rescue people from the rubble, but it is not enough. Iran has promised to help us and its rescue teams are on their way to the area. We are making an international humanitarian call. “
Mohammad Ismail Muawiyah, a spokesman for the top Taliban military commander at Paktika, told Reuters, “We can’t get to the area, the networks are too weak, we’re trying to get updates,” he said.
Describing rescue efforts in Paktika, a volunteer, Faiz Muhammad Sameem, 36, said: “Ambulances, helicopters and motorcycles, everyone is involved in care, but the hospital does not have enough facilities, first aid was provided at the hospital.
“It’s a horrible scene. There were people who lost all their family members. Some have lost 10 relatives or some people have lost whole families.
“I saw a five-year-old boy who was the sole survivor of his 13-member family. I don’t know how he will survive or if he knows what he lost. It’s unbearable.”
However, getting more direct international aid can be difficult: many countries, including the United States, are channeling humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the UN and other organizations to avoid putting money in the hands of the Taliban.
But in a newsletter on Thursday, Afghanistan state television made a point of acknowledging that U.S. President Joe Biden, his one-time enemy, offered his condolences over the quake and had promised help. .
Biden on Wednesday ordered “USAid and other federal government partners to evaluate U.S. response options to help those most affected,” a White House statement said.
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