The UN says the affected areas had been already a number of the most distant within the nation, leaving communities lower off.
Printed On 9 Sep 2025
The United Nations has mentioned it has been unable to succeed in 362 villages in Afghanistan within the wake of a deadly earthquake in its jap Kunar province, which killed no less than 2,200 individuals and flattened whole communities and their properties.
In a information briefing on Monday from Jalalabad, close to the epicentre, Shannon O’Hara, who oversees the coordination of the UN’s humanitarian workplace in Afghanistan, mentioned the earthquake had struck “a number of the most distant, rural areas within the nation”, making the supply of humanitarian support tough.
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O’Hara mentioned an preliminary evaluation solely took account of 49 out of 411 affected villages in Afghanistan’s jap areas, and located 5,230 properties destroyed and 672 broken.
“Even earlier than the earthquake, these villages had been tough to succeed in. Now, with the earthquake, it takes extraordinary effort to get there,” O’Hara added.
The magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Afghanistan on the finish of August, killing no less than 2,200 individuals, Taliban authorities mentioned, with rescue operations ongoing to succeed in extra affected villages.
The UN believes half one million individuals could have been affected by the earthquake, together with 250,000 kids.
Complete villages have been destroyed, and street situations had been made much more tough attributable to aftershocks, O’Hara added. She mentioned it took her crew greater than 6 hours to succeed in Jalalabad, the most important metropolis close to the world most affected by the earthquake.
Humanitarian groups usually needed to drive lengthy distances to succeed in villages, together with hours spent on foot, highlighting the logistical limitations to assist supply.
Within the mountains of southeast Afghanistan, entire villages have been diminished to piles of stone and dirt.
Greater than every week after a devastating earthquake struck, residents are mourning their households and determining how they will survive, having misplaced every thing.
“As we drove in the direction of the epicentre, we noticed households strolling in the wrong way – displaced, carrying what little they may. Many had been nonetheless carrying the identical garments from the evening of the earthquake,” O’Hara mentioned. “Moms and dads had been carrying their kids, some with contemporary bandages masking their accidents.”
The UN consultant additionally warned that seasonal climate modifications, together with the opportunity of heavy rain and snow within the coming months, may additional complicate support efforts. “Time is working out,” she mentioned. “On the finish of October, the winter season will start, and snow will lower off entry to those mountain valleys.
“If we don’t act now, these communities could not survive the winter.”
