The death toll from a massive earthquake in Afghanistan last week has nearly doubled to 2,205 as rescue workers manage to access the remote mountainous area devastated by the disaster.
Hamdullah Fitrat, a spokesman for the Taliban-led government who gave the updated casualty figures on September 4, said deliveries of first aid and emergency supplies are "ongoing" as volunteers and rescue workers negotiate treacherous terrain to reach villages where people remain trapped in the rubble.
Authorities in the impoverished, war-ravaged nation have pleaded with countries to send aid, which had stopped flowing into the country after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
Further complicating aid efforts have been several powerful aftershocks, including a 4.7-magnitude tremor early on September 4. The initial earthquake late on August 31 measured 6.0.
"Tents have been installed for displaced families in multiple locations, and the organized distribution of primary and urgent humanitarian assistance is currently under way," Fitrat wrote in a social media post, adding at least 3,640 people were injured in the earthquake.
The Taliban-led government has not been officially recognized by any country besides Russia, although aid groups have attempted to maintain contacts despite barriers put up by the de facto rulers.
Humanitarian groups have been warning that a lack of access to hygiene supplies, medical help, and emergency shelters are putting many, especially women and girls, at risk.
The disaster comes at a time when hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees are being forced to return from neighboring countries, a move that had already put the country's social services under severe strain.
Afghanistan is often hit by earthquakes, with the last one occurring in October 2023. In that case, the death toll rose steadily as emergency work continued. The Taliban gave a final figure of 4,000 dead, although the United Nations said the figure was around 1,500.
The latest quake struck at around 11:45 p.m. on August 31 and was centered some 27 kilometers northeast of Jalalabad in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, according to the US Geological Survey(USGA).
The USGA said the quake was 8 kilometers deep, a relatively shallow level that often causes greater damage than deeper temblors.
