• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Taliban Calls For Help After Earthquake Kills 1,000 People In Afghanistan

Home> News

Published 08:27 23 Jun 2022 GMT+1

Taliban Calls For Help After Earthquake Kills 1,000 People In Afghanistan

The Taliban is struggling to respond to the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan for two years

Aisha Nozari

Aisha Nozari

The Taliban is struggling to respond to the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan for two decades.

The hardline Islamist leadership has been stripped of international alliances and has been forced to appeal for aid. 

The Taliban has also blamed international sanctions for its inability to deal with the 5.9-magnitude earthquake, which is thought to have left over 1,000 dead when it struck on Wednesday, 22 June.

Advert

This is the first full-scale disaster the Taliban has faced since assuming power around 10 months ago.

When US-led coalition forces withdrew from the nation last year, sanctions were almost immediately imposed on Afghanistan. The Taliban has said such sanctions have crippled its ability to deal with the recent disaster. 

According to Associated Press, Wednesday’s earthquake hit around 30 miles southwest of Khost but tremors were felt in Kabul and as far as Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. 

Advert

The worst hit area was Afghanistan's mountainous Paktika Province. Here, as many as 1,800 homes were destroyed by the earthquake and it’s estimated 1,000 were killed, while thousands more have been injured. 

Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's supreme leader, made an appeal to international organisations during a rare public appearance.

He asked other countries ‘to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort’.

Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official, echoed Akhundzada’s sentiments in a tweet she published on Wednesday, writing: "The government is working within its capabilities. 

Advert

Associated Press

“We hope that the International Community & aid agencies will also help our people in this dire situation."

Speaking to Associated Press, Robert Sanders, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey, explained why the Paktika Province has been so badly affected. 

"Because of the mountainous area, there are rockslides and landslides that we won't know about until later reporting. Older buildings are likely to crumble and fail," he said. 

Advert

"Due to how condensed the area is in that part of the world, we've seen in the past similar earthquakes deal significant damage."

It’s still unclear how many people are stuck beneath rubble, and the UN has said it expects the death toll to rise.

UN aid agencies from Pakistan are on the ground responding to Wednesday’s disaster, according to Insider.

Samantha Mort, UNICEF's Afghanistan communication chief, said: "We've got people on the ground who are distributing blankets and and hygiene kits. We've got several mobile health and nutrition teams on the way to administer first aid to those who are injured.”

Advert

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]  

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/AP

Topics: Environment, World News

Aisha Nozari
Aisha Nozari

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

29 mins ago
an hour ago
  • 29 mins ago

    Shocking new study reveals the impact exposure to vaping while pregnant can have on your baby

    It might be a good idea to ditch vaping altogether

    News
  • an hour ago

    Man left in critical condition after he was sucked into MRI machine while wearing metal necklace

    The unidentified man was not permitted to enter the MRI room

    News
  • an hour ago

    Dating expert reveals the top five signs your partner is cheating

    Claire Rénier has shared warning signs to look out for and encouraged people to 'trust your gut'

    News
  • an hour ago

    Expert warns of devastating impact Trump’s proposed recipe change of Coca-Cola could have on US

    An expert has revealed the switch up could make things very different

    News
  • 3 cities at risk of being swallowed if ‘Doomsday Glacier’ melts after experts issued terrifying warning
  • Experts extremely concerned as mystery illness kills 53 people just days after feeling symptoms
  • TikTok star arrested after predicting devastating Myanmar earthquake
  • Elon Musk has sharp response after Trump calls his own followers ‘stupid Republicans’ for believing in Epstein ‘hoax’