800 dead as 6-quake destroys villages in Afghanistan; nearly 3,000 hurt

ISLAMABAD: Eastern Afghanistan was rocked by a powerful earthquake late Sunday night that killed over 800 people and left nearly 3,000 injured in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, officials said on Monday.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck just before midnight at a shallow depth of eight km, with the epicentre located 27km northeast of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar. The tremors were felt across a wide area, rattling homes as far away as Kabul, and even Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan.Experts said the shallowness of the quake amplified the destruction. The worst devastation was reported from Kunar's mountainous districts, where villages such as Nurgal and Maza Dara were flattened.

Landslides blocked roads and helicopters could not land at night, forcing rescue teams to wait until morning to reach survivors. "It sounded like a storm, and then the walls caved in," recalled Sadiqullah, a farmer from Maza Dara who lost his wife and two sons.

Speaking from his hospital bed, he said he remained trapped for nearly three hours before neighbours dug him out.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at least 800 people had died and more than 2,500 were injured.

He cautioned that the toll was likely to rise as many remote villages had yet to report casualties. A special committee has been set up by the prime minister's office to coordinate relief, and govt has pledged one billion Afghanis (about $14.5 million) in emergency funds for food, shelter and evacuation.Still, aid agencies warned that resources are woefully inadequate. Hospitals in Jalalabad and Kabul are overflowing.

"We are running out of beds, blood and medicine," said health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman, appealing for urgent international help. At least 40 emergency flights have transported the injured to Kabul from Nangarhar since the quake.Access to the worst-hit districts remains difficult. Narrow mountain roads are choked by landslides, forcing aid workers to trek for hours on foot. Communication lines are down, leaving many families uncertain about the fate of their loved ones.The quake compounds Afghanistan's already dire humanitarian crisis. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, foreign assistance has dropped sharply. Millions of Afghans face food insecurity, drought and the mass return of refugees from neighbouring countries. "This disaster piles death upon despair," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urging the global donor community not to turn away.The UN and humanitarian agencies have mobilised emergency teams. Iran and China have promised assistance, while Pakistan - where tremors were widely felt in Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore - expressed condolences and offered support. Relief workers, however, warn that without rapid and large-scale international backing, Afghanistan may struggle to recover from yet another natural disaster.For now, survivors in Kunar and Nangarhar are left to mourn their dead, tend to the injured and search through the rubble with their bare hands. Entire families have been wiped out and thousands are homeless.