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The Taliban have called for more international aid following a devastating earthquake that has killed more than 1,000 people in Afghanistan.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the mountainous region of the east of the country near the city of Khost on Wednesday.
Officials said the death toll had reached 1,000, but expected it to increase as more information arrives from remote regions of the state.
Such is the devastation of the country, that Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, head of Paktika’s information and culture department, said: “People are digging grave after grave.”
He also warned that many remain trapped under the rubble while images released by the Taliban showed residents digging a long ditch to bury the dead.
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The earthquake is the deadliest in the country since 2002 and comes as many foreign aid agencies have left the country after the Taliban returned to power last year.
Afghanistan has also been paralyzed by Western sanctions.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a senior Taliban official, added: “Unfortunately, the government is under sanctions, so it cannot help people financially as much as it needs to.
“Assistance needs to be expanded largely because it is a devastating earthquake that has not been experienced in decades.”
A doctor, in the Paktika region, said medical workers were among the victims of the quake that affected a health system that was already struggling.
The doctor told the BBC: “We didn’t have enough people and facilities before the earthquake, and now the earthquake has ruined what little we had.
“I don’t know how many of our comrades are still alive.”
The United Nations aid agency, the British Red Cross and Sans Frontieres Medicines have also said they are in contact with the Taliban government to send supplies to the state.