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6.3 magnitude earthquake in west Afghanistan

Priya Aditi — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 16:39:06 +0000

On Wednesday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck west Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of life and terrorizing locals who were already traumatized by a sequence of aftershocks that claimed the lives of approximately 2,000 individuals over the weekend.

Approximately thirty kilometers (19 miles) to the north of the provincial capital of Herat, where thousands were spending their fourth night in the open after their villages were destroyed by the tremors on Saturday, the dawn quake struck.

Abdul Qudos, 32, exclaimed, “It’s abhorrent; the entire province of Herat is in terror.”

“We are so scared that even when we see the trees moving (in the wind), we think it’s another earthquake coming.”

The most recent earthquake caused at least one fatality and one hundred twenty-five injuries, according to Abdul Zahir Noorzai, ambulance superintendent for Herat Regional Hospital.

“People in these (rural) areas were residing outside their already-destroyed homes when they were struck by newly falling debris from unstable ruins,” he told AFP.

The earthquake was followed by aftershocks with magnitudes of 5.0 and 4.1, but according to an AFP reporter, the devastation to the city of Herat, which is home to over 500,000 people, was minimal.
Numerous inhabitants have taken to tents, automobiles, and gardens as temporary shelters since the magnitude 6.3 earthquake and subsequent series of intense aftershocks on Saturday.

“Because our children are so terrified, they remain awake until morning.” “They are not sleeping,” Aziz Ahmad, age 40, stated.

In the outdoor courtyard of Herat Regional Hospital, patients were receiving medical care. Wednesday morning ambulances arrived, but the majority of injuries appeared to be minor.

Although deadly earthquakes are a common occurrence in Afghanistan, the catastrophe that struck over the weekend was the most severe to impact the war-ravaged nation in over 25 years.

Casualties in a state of upheaval

According to the United Nations, volunteers have been excavating for survivors and corpses from earlier earthquakes that devastated at least six villages in the rural district of Zenda Jan and impacted over 12,000 people.

Officials at the local and national levels have provided contradictory tonnages for fatalities and injuries; however, the disaster ministry has confirmed 2,053 fatalities.

“We cannot provide exact figures for the number of fatalities and injuries at this time due to the fluid situation,” said Mullah Janan Sayeq, a spokesman for the ministry of disaster management.

The provision of extensive shelter will present a formidable task for the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, which have strained relations with international assistance organizations and seized power in August 2021.

“There is not a single house left, not even a room where we could spend the night,” said Mohammad Naeem, 40. He told AFP that twelve of his relatives, including his mother, perished in the earthquakes on Saturday.

“We can no longer reside in this location. Evidently, our family was martyred in this location. “How were we able to survive here?”

The majority of dwellings in rural Afghanistan are constructed with mud and wooden support pillars, with little reinforcement in the form of steel or concrete.

Due to the fact that multigenerational extended families typically reside in close proximity, communities can be severely devastated by severe earthquakes.

Afghanistan is presently confronted with an acute humanitarian crisis due to the extensive cessation of foreign assistance subsequent to the Taliban’s resurgence.

Also read this:Israel mobilizes 360,000 reservists: 7 facts about ‘backbone of army’

Herat province, situated on the Iranian frontier, is home to approximately 1.9 million inhabitants; for years, a severe drought has plagued its rural communities.

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Tussle over leadership of Afghan mission in New Delhi

Ajit Karn — Tue, 16 May 2023 05:16:50 +0000

The Afghan embassy in the Indian capital has become the site of a dispute between diplomats of the former republic and the current administration in Kabul, with the Taliban appointing as chargé d’affaires a person believed to be close to Haqqani Network leaders.

People familiar with the situation have described the matter as a “internal affair” of Afghanistan in which New Delhi has no involvement. There has been no official statement from the Indian side regarding the differences that became public over the weekend. As with the rest of the world, India does not officially recognize the Taliban government that took office in August 2021.

Since the overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani administration in 2021, the Afghan embassy has been lead by a dwindling group of diplomats under the direction of Farid Mamundzay, who was appointed ambassador in September 2020. Despite the Taliban’s 14 attempts over the past two years to remove the ambassador and other officials, the situation reportedly came to a climax in April, when Mamundzay was visiting his family abroad.

Trade counsellor Qadir Shah, who was also appointed by the previous administration and sent to New Delhi in March 2020, was named “chargé d’affaires” on April 25 by Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Mamundzay was instructed to return to Kabul.

People say that on April 28 a note verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence was sent to the external affairs ministry regarding Shah’s appointment. Until recently, Shah was clean-shaven and wore suits, but he has since grown a goatee and abandoned Western attire. The Indian party has made no official statement regarding this correspondence.

The other Afghan diplomats refused to recognize Shah as their leader on April 29, and expelled him from the mission. People say that since Mamundzay’s return to New Delhi on May 1, Shah has been denied entry to the mission on three separate occasions.

Shah is from Afghanistan’s Khost province, a Haqqani Network stronghold. His father is considered close to former Haqqani Network commander Mali Khan, who is the maternal uncle of senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. Khan is the current deputy chief of staff of the Taliban armed forces, and Angar has reportedly advocated for his son’s appointment to a high position in New Delhi, according to the sources.

Mamundzay declined to comment on the developments, and a statement issued by the Afghan embassy on Monday denied “claims from an individual to have taken charge of the mission at the Taliban’s request.” The statement added that this person was “responsible for spreading false information and running a baseless and unsubstantiated campaign against mission officials, including completely fabricated allegations of corruption based on an unsigned letter.”

This was an apparent reference to reports in Afghan media citing an anonymous letter from “Afghan refugees” that accused Mamundzay and other diplomats of corruption.

In addition, the Afghan embassy’s statement informed Afghan nationals that the “mission continues to operate normally and represent their interests in India.” It also commended the Indian government’s consistent stance of supporting the Afghan people’s interests and “not recognising the Taliban regime in Kabul, as has been the case with democratic countries.”

People stated that the incident illustrates the complexities of India’s relationship with the Taliban. India deployed a “technical team” to Kabul in June 2022 to reestablish a presence there, despite not recognizing the Afghan government’s current structure. Officials from India have also traveled to Kabul to confer with senior Taliban figures such as Muttaqi and Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Also read thisImran Khan asks Musarrat Cheema to approach SC in new audio leak.

The Taliban have been able to appoint officials of their choosing to missions in Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, and Uzbekistan. Currently, approximately 30 Afghan embassies are managed by diplomats appointed by the former regime.

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During raids on IS strongholds in Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban killed 8 people.

Mallika Dureja — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 21:45:08 +0000

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Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban killed eight Islamic State militants and arrested nine others in Kabul raids, a spokesman said Thursday.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Wednesday’s raids targeted IS militants who attacked Kabul’s Longan Hotel, Pakistan’s embassy, and the military airport.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban killed 8 Islamic State militants and arrested 9 others in a series of raids targeting key figures in connection with recent attacks in Kabul, a Taliban government spokesman said on Thursday, Jan 5.https://t.co/lOxFIzf3G4

— kumarabhishek (@kuma_bhi) January 5, 2023

Eight IS fighters, including foreigners, were killed and seven others arrested in Kabul, and two more were arrested in western Nimroz province, Mujahid said.

Mujahid tweeted that these members played a key role in the Chinese hotel attack and helped foreign IS members enter Afghanistan.

Sunday’s bombing at Kabul’s military airport was blamed on Islamic State. IS said the same militant attacked the Longan Hotel in December.

Islamic State in Khorasan Province, a Taliban rival, has increased attacks in Afghanistan since 2021. Taliban patrols and Shiites have been targeted.

IS identified the attacker as Abdul Jabbar and said he withdrew safely after running out of ammunition.He detonated his explosives-laden vest at the checkpoint, it said. Mujahid said light weapons, hand grenades, mines, vests, and explosives were seized during raids on an IS hideout in Shahdai Salehin. Residents reported explosions and an hour-long gun battle.

In August 2021, as US and NATO forces were leaving Afghanistan after 20 years of war, the Taliban seized power

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Delhi and nearby areas felt the tremors of an earthquake, which was centred in Afghanistan.

Mallika Dureja — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 19:42:30 +0000

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On Thursday, tremors from an earthquake were felt in Delhi and the surrounding areas. According to Reuters, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, citing the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).

According to GFZ, the quake struck at a depth of 189 kilometres.

According to reports on social media, earthquake tremors were felt in parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India, including New Delhi.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake took place 44km South of Jurm, Afghanistan at 14:25 UTC. The depth was 189km and was reported by GFZ.
Via: @QuakeAlerts #earthquake #earthquakes #Jurm #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/E0tQjpA1z4

— Rohullah Hadaf 🌎🌳 (@rohullahhadaf2) January 5, 2023

Strong shaking was felt in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, as well as Islamabad, parts of northwestern Pakistan, and New Delhi, according to Reuters witnesses in each location.

There have been no reports of casualties or property damage as of yet.

According to the National Center for Seismology, an earthquake of magnitude 3.8 on the Richter scale struck Delhi-NCR in the early hours of Sunday (NCS).

Tremors were felt across the Delhi-NCR earlier on November 12. The magnitude of the November 12 earthquake in Nepal, which occurred at 7:57 p.m., was 5.4 on the Richter scale, according to the NCS. “The depth of the earthquake was 10 kilometres below ground,” according to NCS.

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