As Earthquake Toll Hits 1.4K, Taliban Appeals for Help

The death toll from a major earthquake in eastern Afghanistan passed 1,400 on Tuesday, with more than 3,000 people injured, a Taliban government rep said on X. Rescuers are now scrambling in a "race against time" to reach the remote area devastated by Sunday's powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake, a UN official said, warning of an exponential rise in the casualties number. The quake struck in several provinces, causing extensive damage, per the AP, flattening villages and trapping people under the rubble of homes constructed mostly of mud bricks and wood and unable to withstand the shock.

Rough terrain is hampering rescue and relief efforts, forcing Taliban authorities to send in dozens of commandos to evacuate the injured from places inaccessible by helicopter and other transport. The casualty figures provided by the spokesman were just for the province of Kunar. At a media briefing on Tuesday, Indrika Ratwatte, the UN's resident coordinator for Afghanistan, urged the international community to step forward, noting, "These are life-and-death decisions while we race against time to reach people."

Ratwatte said that when the walls of wooden and mud homes collapse, the roof falls on to the occupants, causing injury or death. While the area was low density, the earthquake struck when everybody was asleep. The Taliban government, which is only recognized by Russia, has appealed for assistance from foreign governments and the humanitarian sector. It's the third major earthquake since the Taliban seized power in 2021, and the latest crisis to beset Afghanistan, which is reeling from deep cuts to aid funding, a weak economy, and millions of people forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.

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However, help for Afghanistan is in short supply due to competing global crises and reduced aid budgets in donor countries. Kate Carey of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan said more than 420 health facilities had closed or were suspended due to the "massive reduction" in funding, with 80 of them in the eastern region, the heart of Sunday's quake. "The consequence is that the remaining facilities are overwhelmed, have insufficient supplies and personnel, and are not as close to the affected populations as the more local facilities, at a time when providing emergency trauma care is needed in the first 24 to 72 hours of the earthquake response," said Carey.