Afghanistan Peace CampaignA deadly earthquake rocked northern Afghanistan on Friday, deepening the misery of a country suffering from days of heavy rain and flash floods that have swept away people and homes, as well as a hunger crisis and armed conflict.
The floods have killed at least 77 people and injured 137 others across eastern, central and southern Afghanistan this week, destroyed almost 800 homes and damaged more than 2,600 others, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management. They have also severed roads, leaving large parts of the country disconnected.
Abdul Zahir, 24, said heavy rain destroyed the mud brick house his uncle built in Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan. “Yesterday afternoon, after heavy rains, the roof of the house collapsed, killing three of my cousins, who were between the ages of eight and 14, and injuring six others,” he said.
The earthquake on Friday night, with a magnitude of 5.8, was centered in the Yamgan district of mountainous Badakhshan Province but also shook the capital, Kabul, well over 100 miles away. The Afghan authorities said it killed at least 12 people and damaged 33 houses in Kabul Province.
Devastating floods are an annual threat to Afghanistan in the winter and spring, and two years ago they claimed the lives of more than 300 people in the northern provinces, but the country is especially vulnerable now.
Afghanistan is suffering a critical food shortage, while trying to absorb millions of Afghans who had long lived in neighboring countries but have recently been expelled.
The country is still trying to recover from two deadly quakes last year and the loss of $1.8 billion in aid cuts driven primarily by the Trump administration’s closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development. In addition, Pakistani and Afghan forces have clashed repeatedly over the last two years, a conflict that escalated early this year with Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan cities.
The flooding this week closed the connecting roads between the southern and central provinces, increasing the price of basic food items in the central region.