Afghan earthquake victims continue to wait for relief assistance
In the early hours of August 31 to September 1, 2025, a magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. The disaster has left a trail of destruction, affecting more than 500,000 people and resulting in at least 1,469 deaths and over 3,700 injuries.
The Taliban government, already grappling with endemic poverty, severe drought, and the influx of millions of Afghans sent back to the country by neighboring nations, has set up a camp and two sites to manage the emergency aid, transfer of the injured, burial of the dead, and rescue of survivors. Areas that took days to reach have finally been accessed by the Taliban government.
Hospitals in the affected regions are struggling to cope with the influx of patients. Families are grieving, and people are huddled in the open or struggling to unearth those trapped under the heaps of flattened buildings. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is scaling up its emergency response, appealing for $4 million to deliver lifesaving health interventions.
Save the Children aid teams are walking for long distances to reach villages cut off by rock falls, carrying medical equipment on their backs. The German Red Cross (DRK), Caritas International, Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe, and the United Nations refugee aid have already carried out emergency relief efforts, providing tents, food, medical supplies, solar lamps, and cash assistance. However, further humanitarian aid is needed to support vulnerable populations such as children, elderly, and disabled persons exposed to acute risks due to destroyed infrastructure and homelessness.
The Taliban authorities' response to the earthquake is cash-strapped due to the United States slashing assistance to the country after President Donald Trump took office in January. The United Nations estimated it had obtained less than a third of the funding required for operations countrywide, even before the earthquake.
The majority of the casualties were in Kunar province, with a dozen dead and hundreds hurt in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces. The Taliban government has organized 155 helicopter flights to evacuate around 2,000 injured and their relatives to regional hospitals in two days.
Access to remote areas remains obstructed due to aftershocks and rockfall. The camp has been set up in Khas Kunar district to coordinate emergency aid, and two other sites have been opened near the epicentre for the transfer of the injured, the burial of the dead, and the rescue of survivors.
Forcing Afghans to return to the country will only deepen the crisis, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. Afghanistan is still recovering from previous earthquakes, including a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Western Herat province in October 2023 that killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes. The Afghan population living on less than one dollar per day is estimated to be around 85%.
As the nation grapples with this latest disaster, the international community is urged to provide urgent humanitarian aid to support the people of Afghanistan in their time of need.
