Afghanistan Earthquake Kills Over 800, Injures Thousands; Taliban Calls for Urgent International Aid

One of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquakes in recent years has killed more than 800 people and left at least 2,800 injured, authorities confirmed on Monday. Rescue operations are underway as helicopters ferry the wounded from remote mountain villages to hospitals, while search teams continue to comb through the rubble for survivors.

The 6.0-magnitude quake, which struck around midnight at a depth of 10 km, devastated parts of the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, flattening entire villages built with mudbrick houses. Officials said at least 610 people died in Kunar and 12 in Nangarhar, with three villages completely razed.

Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s health ministry in Kabul, issued an urgent appeal for global support. “We need international aid because many people have lost their lives and homes,” he told Reuters. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban administration, said rescue teams were struggling to reach remote border regions cut off from mobile networks.

Military rescue units have been deployed, with 40 flights carrying more than 420 victims so far. Video footage showed helicopters and ambulances rushing the injured to hospitals, while locals and security personnel worked side by side to pull survivors from debris.

The disaster poses a fresh humanitarian challenge for the Taliban government, which is already grappling with shrinking foreign aid and the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans from neighbouring countries. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, international funding that previously made up the bulk of Afghanistan’s finances has dried up, with humanitarian aid alone falling sharply from $3.8 billion in 2022 to $767 million in 2024.

This marks the third major earthquake since the Taliban came to power. A 6.1-magnitude quake in 2022 killed more than 1,000 people, while another tremor devastated the western city of Herat last year, leaving many still in temporary shelters.

International response to the latest tragedy has so far been muted. A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign office said no foreign government had formally offered assistance. However, China expressed readiness to provide relief “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN mission in Afghanistan was preparing to assist survivors, calling the situation critical as more than half of Afghanistan’s population already depends on humanitarian aid.

Experts warn that Afghanistan remains highly vulnerable to seismic activity, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide.