Afghan Leader Calls For International Donations After Country Hit By Worst Quake In Two Decades
By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi June 22, 2022
The supreme leader of Afghanistan's Taliban-led government has called on the international community to make donations to help with relief efforts after an earthquake struck the country early on June 22, killing at least 1,000 people.
Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the ruling Taliban, in a statement called on the international community, charities, and all humanitarian organizations "to join hands with the Afghan people in this great tragedy."
The earthquake, which rocked eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of June 22, killed at least 1,000 people, Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, the provincial head of the Taliban-led Information and Culture Department in Paktika, and the Taliban-run state news agency Bakhtar reported.
Akhundzada told Bakhtar the death toll is likely to rise. Hundreds of homes and other buildings were destroyed, he said.
The disaster poses a challenge for the Taliban-led government, which is largely isolated as a result of its hard-line Islamist policies toward women and girls. The country already is battling a severe humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country in August last year.
The 6.1-magnitude quake was the deadliest in the country since 2002, when a similarly powerful quake killed about 1,000 people in northern Afghanistan. Worst-affected in the more recent earthquake were the Paktika and Khost provinces.
Huzaifa said the number of dead and injured may change as rescuers reach outlying areas.
Interior Ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said it will take time to collect data from villages in remote areas in the mountains. Helicopters have been deployed in the rescue effort to reach the injured and fly in medical supplies and food, Ayubi said.
U.S. President Joe Biden has directed USAID and other federal government entities to assess how it can respond to help those most affected by the earthquake.
"We are committed to continuing our support for the needs of the Afghan people as we stand with them during and in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy," national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The United Nations said it was deploying medical health teams and providing medical supplies, but it said it did not have search-and-rescue capabilities in Afghanistan.
Earthquakes are exceptionally destructive in areas like eastern Afghanistan, where many houses are poorly built with materials such as mud.
Footage from Paktika showed casualties being carried onto helicopters to be airlifted from the area while others were being treated on the ground.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the global agency has "fully mobilized" to help.
"My heart goes out to the people of Afghanistan who are already reeling from the impact of years of conflict, economic hardship and hunger," he said in a statement.
Tomas Niklasson, the European Union special envoy for Afghanistan, said on Twitter the EU is "stands ready to coordinate and provide EU emergency assistance to people and communities affected."
In Pakistan, one soldier died and two others were injured when the earthquake caused the roof of their security post to cave, RFE/RL's Radio Maashal reported.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Source: https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/afghanistan- earthquake-casualties-paktika-/31909471.html
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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