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Powerful Earthquake Shakes Afghanistan; Death Toll Rises
A strong earthquake shook Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India, cut power and communications in some areas of Afghanistan and killed dozens mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The full extent of the damage and the number of possible casualties was not yet known and the death toll is also expected to rise.
The magnitude 7.5 quake which struck at 1:39 p.m was centered in the province of Badakhshan in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan’s far north, and occurred at a depth of 130 miles (210km).
People poured into the streets of Kabul, where buildings shook for at least two minutes.
Reverberations were felt across several provinces in Afghanistan, particularly in the north.
Reports suggest that the earthquake killed at least 18 people, including 12 schoolgirls while trying to escape from a girls’ school in Taloqan city, north-east Afghanistan, and six people killed in the eastern province of Nangahar.
Sonatullah Taimor, the spokesman for the Takhar provincial governor, says another 30 girls have been taken to the hospital in the provincial capital of Taluqan.
The Chief of Executive Officer, CEO, Abdullah Abdullah has said that the earthquake was “the strongest one felt in recent decades”. He also urged people to stay outdoors for fears of aftershocks.
“Some mobile networks are down and we are still figuring out to main our contacts with the provinces we couldn’t contact so far. We have asked aid agencies to work with Afghan Government, help those in need and come up with their relief packages,” CEO added.
Meanwhile, 28 people were killed in Pakistan’s northern tribal areas, 20 in the north-west, three in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani officials said. Eight children were known to be among the dead in Pakistan.
Indian officials have also said that two elderly women died from heart attacks suffered during the earthquake, including a 65-year-old woman in the northern Kashmiri town of Baramulla and an 80-year-old in the southern town of Bijbehara.
Earthquakes of this size have caused massive destruction in the past.
The earthquake comes after Nepal suffered its worst quake on 25 April 2015 that killed almost 8,900 people and destroyed about half a million homes.
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US report cites ‘significant deterioration’ in Afghan women’s rights last year
There was significant deterioration in women’s rights in 2023 due to edicts that further restricted access to education and employment, with a net result that women were increasingly confined to domestic roles, the U.S. State Department said in its annual human rights report.
Killings, severe physical abuse, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, unjust detentions and abductions, restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, restrictions on internet freedom, restrictions on political participation; corruption and child recruitment were among human rights issues cited in the report.
It said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) did not purport to formally change existing laws as legislated by the Republic-era government; however, they promulgated edicts that contradicted those laws and were inconsistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international conventions.
“This year’s report also captures human rights abuses against members of vulnerable communities. In Afghanistan, the Taliban (IEA) have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, ‘immoral behavior,’ end quote,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in reaction to the report, said that the people of Afghanistan are Muslims and their rights are defined and ensured according to Islamic laws.
He added that the culture and human rights defined in the United States and other western countries are different from Afghanistan and Westerners should not impose their culture on other countries.
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At least 1,500 families affected by recent floods: IRW
The Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) organization has reported that the rains and floods of the last week have claimed the lives of many Afghan and incurred huge financial losses.
According to the organization, a total of 1,500 families have suffered as a result of the recent floods and hundreds of livestock have also been lost.
IRW added that following the recent rains, 900 houses were partially or completely destroyed and 93,000 hectares of agricultural land was damaged.
This comes amid an ongoing economic crisis in Afghanistan which has left millions of people reliant on aid.
The disaster management ministry meanwhile confirmed earlier that 99 people died and 64 others were injured as a result of the heavy rains.
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Russia says US facing humiliation in Ukraine like in Vietnam and Afghanistan
Russia said on Sunday U.S. lawmakers’ support for $60.84 billion more in aid for Ukraine showed that Washington was wading much deeper into a hybrid war against Moscow that would end in humiliation on a par with the Vietnam or Afghanistan conflicts.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was clear that the United States wanted Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian” including with attacks on Russian sovereign territory and civilians, Reuters reported.
“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Zakharova said.
Russia, she said, will give “an unconditional and resolute response” to the U.S. move to get more involved in the Ukraine war.
The United States lost more than 58,000 military personnel in the 1955-75 Vietnam War, which ended with Communist North Vietnam’s victory and takeover of the South, while hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.
In the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan, the U.S. reported 2,459 dead and over 20,000 wounded in the conflict which ended with the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces and return to power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
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