An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck Afghanistan, killing 1,000 people, according to Taliban officials

At least 1,000 people were killed in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, according to Taliban officials, and the death toll is expected to increase as information flows from remote villages.

KEY POINTS: The death toll is expected to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue, Taliban officials are pleading with the international community for help, the 6.1-magnitude earthquake is the deadliest to hit the country in two decades.

More than 1,500 people were reported injured in the earthquake.

With teams dispatched to the quake-hit areas, Afghan officials asked humanitarian agencies to assist in the rescue effort.

A spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry said the Taliban would welcome any international assistance.

Neighboring Pakistan and Iran have said they are sending humanitarian aid, including food and medicine.

Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, an Interior Ministry official, said the death toll was likely to rise “because some villages are located in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to gather the details.”

Most of the confirmed deaths were in Paktika, where 255 people have been killed and more than 200 have been infected, Ayubi said.

In the eastern province of Khost, 25 people died and 90 people were taken to hospital. He added that deaths were also reported in Nangarhar province.

The authorities are looking for more victims.

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked parts of eastern Afghanistan (Bakhtar News Agency via Associated Press)

In a tweet on Twitter, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said that 119 million people felt the earthquake at a distance of 500 km in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Rescue operations are underway

Witnesses told ABC that the quake struck late at night when people were sleeping in the war-torn country.

Ruhollah, a Kabul-based tailor from Paktika province, said he was shocked by the quake.

Rescue efforts are underway in Afghanistan as Taliban officials, expecting the death toll to rise, seek foreign aid (Bakhtar News Agency via The Associated Press)

“Since I heard about the devastation back home, I’ve been crying, cell phone connections aren’t working properly and no one is telling me if my family members are alive or not,” he said.

His Bermal district was one of the worst affected in southeastern Afghanistan.

Firdaus Khan, a resident of Sharana, the capital of Paktika province, told ABC that the only public hospital in the province with a population of nearly one million was overwhelmed by earthquake victims.

“Most of the victims are women and children because they slept because of the disaster,” he said. “There is an absolute lack of resources, doctors and all the other things that are needed.”

“People don’t know what to do.”

Most of the confirmed deaths occurred in Paktika state, and deaths were reported in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Khost.

The state-owned Bakhtar News Agency said rescue operations had begun to curb further potential deaths and property losses.

The Taliban authorities, who have not received international recognition since taking power in Kabul in August 2021, have reported losses in the entire southeastern region, which includes the provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Logar, Khost and Logar.

Haibatullah Akhundzadeh, the supreme leader of the ruling Taliban movement, offered his condolences in a statement.

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In response to the Taliban’s seizure of power, many governments imposed sanctions on the banking sector in Afghanistan and cut billions of dollars in development aid.

However, humanitarian aid has continued, and international agencies including the United Nations are working inside the country.

The United Nations said it is deploying medical health teams and providing medical supplies, but it does not have search and rescue capabilities in Afghanistan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN was fully mobilized to assess needs and provide initial support.

“We are counting on the international community to help support hundreds of families struck by the latest disaster. It is time for solidarity,” he said in a statement.

Large parts of South Asia are seismically active because the tectonic plate, known as the Indian plate, pushes north into the Eurasian plate.

In 2015, an earthquake struck remote northeastern Afghanistan, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and neighboring northern Pakistan.

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ABC / wire

Posted 15 hours ago 15 hours agoWednesday Jun 22 2022 at 5:58am Updated 2 hours agoWednesday Jun 22 2022 7:06pm

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