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Survivors dig their own hands after Afghanistan earthquake kills 1,000: NPR

In this photo released by Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, a convoy of trucks carrying relief goods prepares to leave for Afghanistan at a warehouse in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022.

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In this photo released by Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, a convoy of trucks carrying relief goods prepares to leave for Afghanistan at a warehouse in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, June 23, 2022.

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GAYAN, Afghanistan – Survivors dug by hand Thursday through villages in eastern Afghanistan were reduced to rubble by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 1,000 people, as the Taliban and the international community leave their takeover struggling to relieve the victims of the disaster.

In the hard-hit Gayan district of Paktika province, villagers stand atop the mud bricks that used to be their homes. Others made their way carefully through dirt alleys, clinging to damaged walls with exposed wooden slats to pave the way.

The quake was the deadliest to hit Afghanistan in two decades, and officials say the number could rise. The state news agency said an estimated 1,500 others were injured.

The disaster caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake adds to the grief of a country where millions are facing an increasing number of people. hungry and poor and the health system has collapsed since the Taliban came to power nearly 10 months ago amid the withdrawal of US and NATO troops. The takeover resulted in the cutoff of a vital source of international finance and most of the world shunned the Taliban government.

How – and whether the Taliban will allow – the world deliver aid remains a question as rescuers without heavy equipment dig through the rubble with their bare hands.

“We ask the emirate and the whole country to come forward and help us,” said one survivor, who gave his name as Hakimullah. “We have nothing and nothing, not even a tent to live in.”

The full extent of the devastation of the villages located in the mountains has been slow to come to light. Roads that are rutted and difficult to navigate in the best possible condition have been severely damaged, and landslides caused by recent rains have made travel even more difficult.

While modern buildings can withstand magnitude 6 earthquakes elsewhere, the brick and mud houses in Afghanistan and the landslide-prone mountains make such homes all the more difficult. be more dangerous.

Rescuers rushed in by helicopter, but the relief effort could be hampered by the exodus of many international aid agencies from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over last August. Furthermore, most governments are wary of dealing with the Taliban directly.

Afghans search for survivors in the village of Gyan, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

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Afghans search for survivors in the village of Gyan, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

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In a sign of chaotic activity between the Taliban and the rest of the world, the Taliban have not formally asked the United Nations to mobilize international search and rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighboring countries. to replenish several dozen ambulances and several helicopters sent in. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan.

However, officials from various UN agencies say the Taliban are giving them full access to the area.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter that eight trucks carrying food and other necessities from Pakistan had arrived in Paktika. He also said on Thursday that two humanitarian aid planes from Iran and another from Qatar had arrived in the country.

Finding direct international help can be more difficult: Many countries, including the United States, provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the United Nations and other organizations to avoid falling into the hands of the Taliban.

In a news release on Thursday, Afghanistan’s state broadcaster made a point of admitting that US President Joe Biden – their arch-enemy – had offered condolences over the earthquake and promised aid. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden ordered “USAID and other partners of the federal government to evaluate US response options to help those hardest hit,” a White House statement said. said.

The quake was centered in Paktika province, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost, according to the neighboring Pakistan Meteorological Department. Experts say its depth is only 10 km (6 miles). Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.

The death toll reported by Bakhtar news agency is on par with the 2002 earthquake in northern Afghanistan. These are the deadliest earthquakes since 1998, when a magnitude 6.1 quake and subsequent quakes in the far northeast killed at least 4,500 people.

Wednesday’s earthquake takes place in an area at risk of landslides, with many older, weaker buildings.

In the Speray district of neighboring Khost province, which also suffered severe damage, men stood atop what was once a mud house. The earthquake tore off its slats. Everyone sat outside under a makeshift tent with a blanket blowing in the wind.

Survivors quickly prepared for those killed in the district, including children and an infant, for burial. Officials fear more dead will be found in the coming days.

Sultan Mahmood, mayor of Speray, said: “It is difficult to gather all the correct information because this is a mountainous area. “The information that we have is what we gather from the residents of these areas.”

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