JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Following a severe earthquake earlier this week, Afghan rescue teams have discovered hundreds more bodies in mountain village homes, raising the death tally to over 2,200, according to a Taliban government official on Thursday.
The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.0, struck late Sunday, affecting the mountainous and secluded eastern region. The tremor leveled villages and trapped residents under the debris. Kunar province bore the brunt of the disaster, where people typically reside in structures built from wood and mud along steep valleys bordered by towering mountains.
An assessment released Thursday by the Islamic Relief charity revealed that a staggering 98% of the buildings in the province suffered damage or were destroyed. Aid organizations highlighted a significant need for personnel and resources to support the affected population.
Muhammad Israel recounted how a landslide triggered by the quake buried his home, livestock, and possessions in Kunar. “All the rocks came down from the mountain,” he recalled. “I barely managed to rescue my children. … The earthquake tremors continue, making it uninhabitable.”
On Thursday evening, a 5.6-magnitude tremor shook Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, situated south of the most severely affected Kunar province, although there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Israel had taken refuge at a U.N. medical camp in Nurgal, among the most devastated districts in Kunar. “The conditions here are also dire; we lack shelter and are exposed to the elements,” he stated.
Previous estimates said some 1,400 people were killed. Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Thursday that the updated death toll was 2,205 and that search and rescue efforts were continuing.
“Tents have been set up for people, and the delivery of first aid and emergency supplies is ongoing,” Fitrat said.
The rough terrain is hindering relief efforts. Taliban authorities have deployed helicopters and airdropped army commandos to help survivors. Aid workers have reported walking for hours to reach villages cut off by landslides and rockfall.
Funding cuts are also having an impact on the response. The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had fewer than 450 staff in Afghanistan whereas it had 1,100 in 2023, the date of the last major quake in the country. The council only had one warehouse remaining and no emergency stock.
“We will need to purchase items once we get the funding but this will take potentially weeks and people are in need now,” said Maisam Shafiey, the communications and advocacy advisor for the council in Afghanistan.
“We have only $100,000 available to support emergency response efforts. This leaves an immediate funding gap of $1.9 million,” Shafiey said.
Dr. Shamshair Khan, who was attending the injured at the U.N. camp in Nurgal, said his own condition had deteriorated after seeing the suffering of others.
“Neither these medicines are enough nor these services,” he said. “These people need more medicine and tents. They need food and clean drinking water. These people are in great pain.”
Qatar’s minister of state for international cooperation, Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad, arrived in Kabul on Wednesday to oversee the delivery of aid to earthquake victims.
She is the first female minister to visit Afghanistan on a humanitarian mission since the Taliban seized power in 2021, and the first high-ranking foreign official to travel there since the quake.
Aid organizations describe the latest disaster as a crisis within a crisis. Afghanistan was already struggling with drought, a weak economy and the recent return of some 2 million Afghans from neighboring countries.
Associated Press writer Hedayat Shah contributed from Nurgal, Afghanistan, and Abdul Qahar Afghani contributed from Jalalabad, Afghanistan
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