National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Janan Sayeq speaks during a press conference in Kabul on October 8, 2023. WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)The death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan rose sharply again Sunday to more than 2,000 as rescuers scrabbled for survivors among the ruins of razed villages.
Men shovelled through piles of crumbled masonry as women and children waited in the open, with gutted homes showing personal belongings flapping in the harsh wind.“Those who were inside the houses were buried,” he said. “There are families we have heard no news from.” “So far, we have nothing. No blankets or anything else. We are here left out at night with our martyrs,” he said as darkness began to fall.
Afghanistan is already suffering in the grip of a dire humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.