The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan have pledged not to interfere in international efforts to distribute aid to tens of thousands of people affected by this week’s deadly earthquake.
Even before Wednesday’s earthquake, the country was in a humanitarian crisis, with aid and financial assistance flows severely reduced since the Taliban returned to power.
The 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit the eastern border of Pakistan hardest as people slept, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless.
Humanitarian organizations have complained in the past that the Taliban authorities have tried to divert aid to areas and people who supported their hardline insurgency, or have even confiscated property to distribute and claim the credit.
But Khan Mohammad Ahmad, a senior official in the heavily affected Paktika province, said international organizations helping relief efforts would not interfere.
“Whether WFP, Unicef or any other organization … the international community or the United Nations … will do the distribution themselves,” Khan said.
“The people in charge of the Islamic Emirate are here … our members will always be with them [to help]He added, referring to the Taliban’s new name for Afghanistan.
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The disaster poses a major logistical challenge for the government, which has become isolated from much of the world with the introduction of a hardline rule that subjugates women and girls.
But the international community has responded quickly to the latest disaster that has fallen in the country and aid is starting to flow, though not always where it is most needed.
“What do we not need? We need everything, “Wali told AFP in the Gayan district, near the epicenter of the quake, about 200 km southeast of Kabul.” We are alive, but no one is listening to us. we have not received any help now “.
Many of the buildings in Wali village, made of mud bricks, like most of the Afghan countryside, had been crushed by the earthquake.
“Our beds and all our things are buried under our house. Our houses are destroyed … nothing is left,” he said. “Currently we need money to be able to buy our needs: clothes, mattresses, material. We also need flour and rice. ”
The country’s health minister, who visited Gayan district on Saturday, said people were deeply traumatized by the quake and were reluctant to return home.
“The whole community is very affected, mentally and psychologically,” Qalandar Ebad said. “I think the situation is critical now … society is totally damaged here.”
But Ramiz Alakbarov, the top UN official in Afghanistan, praised the Afghans for their resilience and courage after touring the area.
“What a sign of resolution in the face of this adversity, I would say an endless adversity,” he said. “Endless hardships, endless tragedies, but these people are so kind, so strong. And they are willing to overcome, and come together as a community and as a society.”
The delivery of aid has become more difficult because the earthquake affected areas that were already suffering from the effects of heavy rains, causing rock falls and mudslides that ended up in precarious villages on the slopes of the mountains. Communications have also been affected with mobile phone towers and demolished power lines.
Officials say nearly 10,000 homes were destroyed, an alarming figure in an area where the average household size is more than 20 people.
Even before the Taliban took office, Afghanistan’s emergency response teams were tense in dealing with the natural disasters that often affect the country. But with only a handful of aircraft and helicopters fit for navigation since they returned to power, their response to the latest catastrophe is even more limited.
Afghanistan is frequently affected by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush Mountains, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. Afghanistan’s most deadly recent earthquake killed 5,000 in 1998 in the northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.