earthquake kills at least 1,000

In Gayan, in the province of Paktika (Afghanistan), graves are hastily dug by the dozen. On the night of Tuesday June 21 to Wednesday June 22, an earthquake that hit the south-east of the country has already killed more than 1,000 people. The Taliban are working as hard as they can to transfer the wounded by helicopter. The area is mountainous and very difficult to access. Many houses collapsed on their sleeping occupants. They are fragile, built of bricks and cob.

Armed with their only good willthe locals try to find survivors. “Unfortunately, there is no equipment. People come with shovels and pickaxes to help. They have nothing else to save these people’s lives.”reports the journalist Tawab Zafarzai. The clinics, few in number and poorly equipped, are overwhelmed. The earthquake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale. This is a new blow for a country already on its knees since the Taliban came to power.