The destruction of an already devastated country.
Eastern Afghanistan is suffering the dire consequences of a powerful earthquake this week that left at least 1,000 dead and 1,500 injured. This is the deadliest earthquake in the country in the last two decades.
The 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Paktika province, a region on the border with Pakistan where many people live in poverty.
Afghanistan has been in a critical economic and social situation for decades and has been under the command of the Taliban since last August.
“People are digging graves on graves,” said Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, head of the Information and Culture Department in Paktika, Wednesday (22/6) after the earthquake.
Image: Getty Images
He told AFP that the rain made the situation worse in these hard-to-reach areas in the mountains and that “all the houses were destroyed. People are still trapped under the rubble.”
The country’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned that the death toll could rise in the coming days.
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The Taliban government sought international assistance to deal with the disaster.
“We know that several districts in Paktika province are the hardest hit, but at the same time it is raining heavily, which makes access to these communities difficult,” UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Sam Mort told the BBC.
Based in Kabul, Mort confirmed that the Taliban government has contacted the United Nations to seek help and work together to assist the communities most affected.
He says resources are “very limited. Emergency response in communities is basically done by people’s hands… It’s a huge challenge amongst rubble, rain and mud.”
Mort said the earthquake could not come at a worse time, especially given the country’s unstable situation after the Taliban came to power.
The country is facing the “worst drought in 37 years. There is a chronic malnutrition crisis. One million children under the age of 5 are at risk of severe malnutrition. Preventable diseases like measles and diarrhea are spreading and spreading. “It’s taking the lives of these children,” said the UNICEF representative. .
“We have a country where 97% of its population is on the verge of poverty. People don’t have enough to eat. It’s a very, very difficult situation. And now, on top of that, the poorest countryside has to deal with an earthquake.” says Death.
Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes as it is located in a seismically active region.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 7,000 people have died in earthquakes in the country in the last 10 years.
‘This text was originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-61908844.‘
data on afghanistan
- HE A lotandexplosion governs the country: Radical Islamists took control of Afghanistan last year, nearly 20 years after it was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
- There is a food crisis: More than a third of the population is unable to meet their basic needs, and the economy is in dire straits as foreign aid and money run out when the Taliban come to power.
- Women’s rights are restricted: they are required to cover their faces in public and young people are not allowed to go to school.
source: Noticias
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