Afghanistan earthquake kills at least
1,000, more trapped in rubble
STORY: An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed hundreds of people in Afghanistan early on Wednesday (June 22).
At least 950 died and more than 600 were injured, according to disaster management officials.
The toll is expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.
Buildings were reduced to rubble and helicopters were deployed in the rescue effort to reach the injured and fly in medical supplies and food.
Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since 2002.
It struck about 27 miles from the southeastern city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern province of Paktika.
Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the ruling Taliban, offered his condolences in a statement.
Mounting a rescue operation could prove a major test for the Taliban, who took over the country in August and have been cut off from much international assistance because of sanctions
The disaster comes as Afghanistan grapples with a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over, as U.S.-led international forces withdrew following two decades of war.
Many nations cut billions of dollars worth of development aid, though international agencies, such as the United Nations, still operate.
A foreign ministry spokesperson said Afghanistan would welcome international help.
Heartbreak and shock in Afghanistan after earthquake kills more than 1,000 people
An Afghan quake victim receiving treatment at a hospital on June 22, 2022.
SHARAN, AFGHANISTAN (AFP) - Ms Bibi Hawa's face is distorted by tears as she tries to grasp her predicament from a hospital bed in Sharan, capital of Afghanistan's Paktika province.
At least a dozen members of her family were among over 1,000 people killed by a devastating earthquake that struck the region early Wednesday (June 22), and she fears she has been left all alone.
"Where will I go, where will I go?" the 55-year-old asks repeatedly.
As a nurse tries to calm her down, talking to her gently and caressing her forehead, Ms Bibi sighs: "My heart is weak."
The 5.9-magnitude quake struck hardest in the rugged and impoverished east, where people already led hand-to-mouth lives made worse since the Taliban takeover in August.
The disaster poses a huge challenge for the hardline Islamists, who have largely isolated the country as a result of their hardline policies.
The United Nations in an initial estimate said over 2,000 homes were destroyed in the region, where the average family often has up to 20 members.
In the room where Ms Bibi is being treated a dozen other women lie on beds - many asleep, some burrowed beneath blankets, others hooked up to vital fluids.
An Afghan child being treated inside a hospital after getting injured in the earthquake, in Sharan, Afghanistan, on June 22, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
Ms Shahmira is unhurt, but her one-year-old grandson lies in her lap, a large dressing covering his temple.
On the next bed her daughter-in-law is sleeping off her injuries, while a son is being treated in a different ward.
"We were sleeping when we heard a loud noise," she tells AFP of the quake. "I screamed... I thought my family was buried under the rubble and that I was the only one" still alive.
In an adjacent ward, a dozen men are also recovering on beds. One father holds his son on his lap - the boy wearing mustard-coloured pants with little black hearts, one leg in a plaster cast.
Nearby another child lies under a blue blanket. His left arm is also in a cast, while on his forehead a white bandage bears the word "emergency" written in black marker.
"It was a horrible situation," recalls Mr Arup Khan, 22, talking of the moments after the quake. "There were cries everywhere. The children and my family were under the mud."
Dr Mohammad Yahya Wiar, director of Sharan Hospital, says they have been doing their best to treat everyone.
When the injured arrived, they "were crying, and we were crying too", he tells AFP.
"Our country is poor and lacks resources. This is a humanitarian crisis. It is like a tsunami."
But locals are rallying to help. In front of the hospital, a hundred men are waiting patiently.
"They have come to give blood - about 300 have already given it since this morning," explains a Taliban fighter.
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