Poverty, rain and mountains.. The battle to save the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan continues in very complex circumstances

Rescuers worked hard on Thursday to help victims of an earthquake that killed at least 1,000 people in southeastern Afghanistan, but their work was hampered by a lack of resources, mountainous terrain and torrential rain.

The earthquake - which measured 5.9 on the Richter scale - occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning in this poor and hard-to-reach rural area, located on the border with Pakistan.

This new tragedy, in a country suffering mainly from an economic and humanitarian crisis, constitutes a major challenge for the Taliban movement, which has been in power since mid-August after the departure of the US invasion forces.

This earthquake killed the largest number of residents in more than two decades, as more than a thousand people died at least and 1,500 others were injured in Paktika alone, the worst affected state, according to the authorities, who fear the death toll will rise because a large number are still trapped under the rubble. their collapsed homes.

Muhammad Ismail Muawiya, the spokesman for the Taliban's military commander in Paktika province, says that about 600 people were rescued from various affected areas yesterday night.

The Taliban-led Defense Ministry is leading the rescue effort.

Local media published pictures of houses reduced to rubble, and bodies wrapped in blankets on the ground in the hours following the earthquake.

Afghanistan has only a very limited number of helicopters and aircraft.

"It is difficult to reach the affected sites," said the state's head of media and culture, Muhammad Amin Hudhaifa, especially that "the area witnessed floods last night caused by heavy rains," stressing that there is no new assessment yet.

Heavy rains caused a number of landslides, which slowed relief efforts, and damaged telephone and power lines.

call the army

The government recalled the army, but it does not have large means and its financial resources are very limited after billions of dollars of assets held abroad were frozen and Western international aid on which the country relied was stopped.

The authorities said that the earthquake destroyed at least 3,000 homes, and the United Nations indicated a lack of mechanisms to remove the rubble.

A video clip shows a group of men removing the debris of a completely collapsed house with their hands to exhume a body.

The government said it was making every effort, asking for the help of the international community and humanitarian organizations.

But it is difficult to mobilize international aid, as the presence of non-governmental organizations and UN agencies is less than it was in the past since the return of the Taliban to power.

However, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that his organization was "on full alert" to assist Afghanistan, with first aid teams deployed and medicines and foodstuffs dispatched.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicated that the population is in need of shelter due to the unusual rain and cold this season, as well as food and non-food assistance, especially water, hygiene and sanitation services.

Authorities rescued about 600 people from various affected areas (European)

Aid and pledges

On Thursday, the Taliban announced that it had received two planes loaded with aid from Iran and one from Qatar.

Eight trucks loaded with food and first aid supplies from neighboring Pakistan have also arrived in Paktika province.

For its part, the European Union announced yesterday that it is ready to "provide emergency aid", while the United States confirmed "with deep sadness" that it is studying "options for a humanitarian response".

"Our country is poor and lacking in resources. It is a humanitarian crisis, it is like a tsunami," said Muhammad Yahya Weyar, director of Sharan Hospital, the capital of Paktika.

And Afghanistan witnesses frequent earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which is located at the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

These disasters can be particularly devastating because of the low resilience of rural Afghan homes.

The most violent earthquake in the modern history of Afghanistan occurred in May 1998, killing 5,000 people in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces (northeast).