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Yesterday (22nd), a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people so far.

The Taliban authorities are appealing to the international community for help.



Reporter Jeong Ban-seok on the sidewalk.



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Paktika province, near the Pakistan border in southeastern Afghanistan.



A rescue helicopter makes an emergency landing amid rising red smoke grenades.



Residents put the injured on stretchers and rush them to helicopters.



Houses made of mud bricks have collapsed and look as if they have been bombed.



[Fatima/Afghan residents: It was midnight when the earthquake occurred.

My children and I screamed and our house collapsed.]



Yesterday morning local time, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan killed at least 1,000 people.



Thousands of houses collapsed, and it is said that not a few people were buried as the collapsed soil fell.



The Taliban government, which is experiencing severe economic hardship due to decades of civil war, has asked the international community for help.



[Sharafuddin Muslim/Deputy Minister of Disaster Management of Afghanistan: It is very difficult to respond to the enormous damage, so we ask for continuous support from the international community.]



The UN ambassador to Afghanistan said that at least $15 million in relief funds is urgently needed.



[Ramiz Alakhvarov/UN Ambassador to Afghanistan: At least 15 million dollars will be required to immediately respond to various demands.

We are concerned not only about non-food items, but also about moving people to shelters and distributing medical supplies.

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The UN announced that it has started providing humanitarian aid, such as dispatching a relief team to the site in response to the Afghan government's request for assistance.