Afghanistan earthquake kills over 1,000 people
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
A devastating earthquake hit Afghanistan, with reports stating the magnitude was between 5.9 and 6.1. It is known according to various sources that at least 1,000 people have perished in eastern Afghanistan. Therefore, the fear is that the death toll will continue to climb.
The deputy spokesperson for the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, appealed for international assistance. He said, “We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”
Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, held an emergency meeting to discuss the ongoing crisis. The outcome was the implementation of urgent relief for the earthquake victims in the provinces of Paktika and Khost – and other surrounding provinces hit by the earthquake.
The Giyan district of the province of Paktika was especially hit hard. Sadly, regional structures responding to natural disasters were minimal before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan: therefore, local people are responding without adequate assistance from internal and external aid agencies.
Tolo News reports, “The head of the Paktika department of information and culture, Mawlawi Huzifa, told TOLOnews that the earthquake occurred around 1:30 AM last night. He said that many of the victims are from the Giyan district of the province.”
The BBC reports, “The earthquake struck about 44km from the city of Khost and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India. Witnesses reported feeling the quake in both Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.”
Under President Biden of America – and fellow NATO allies – the armed forces fled the country in a ramshackle way – leaving a vast arsenal of military weapons. Since then, the Taliban have increased more conservative Islamic ideas on society. Therefore, the international community and the ruling Taliban have limited channels.
ABC News says, “In response to the Taliban takeover, many governments have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan’s banking sector and cut billions of dollars worth of development aid.”
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK