A senior Taliban delegation was visiting western Afghanistan’s Herat province on Monday in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people over the weekend and flattened entire villages, a statement said.
Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake hit a densely populated area in Herat and was followed by strong aftershocks in what was one of the deadliest temblors to strike the country in two decades.
The Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and his team will visit the quake-affected region on Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid,” according to a statement from the capital, Kabul.
The quake also trapped hundreds and people have been digging with their bare hands and shovels to pull victims — both dead and alive — from under the rubble. Authorities said Monday they were still waiting for an update on the latest casualties form Herat.
The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, the provincial capital.
It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.
A global response to the Afghanistan quake has been slow, with much of the world wary of dealing directly with the Taliban government and focused on the deadly escalation between Israel and the Palestinians in the aftermath of the surprise attack by Gaza militants on Saturday that has left more than 1,100 dead in fighting so far and thousands wounded on both sides.
Aid agencies and nongovernmental groups have appealed for the international community to come forward but only a handful of countries have publicly offered support, including neighbouring China and Pakistan.
Aid group CARE USA — a member of CARE International umbrella — said in a statement that the quake struck at a time when Afghanistan was already facing a severe humanitarian crisis that was significantly under-funded while needs are increasing rapidly.
