Death toll from Afghanistan earthquake surpasses 2,200

The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan over the weekend has risen sharply to more than 2,200, making it the deadliest quake to hit the country in decades.

According to an updated Taliban government tally released Thursday, 2,205 people were killed and 3,640 injured in Kunar province, the epicenter of the magnitude-6.0 tremor that shook the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late Sunday. Another 12 deaths and several hundred injuries were reported in the neighboring provinces of Nangarhar and Laghman.

Officials warned the toll could climb further as rescuers and volunteers continue to pull bodies from the rubble. “Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from destroyed houses during search and rescue operations,” deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on X, adding that “rescue efforts are still ongoing.”

Access to the hardest-hit areas has been severely hampered. Repeated aftershocks triggered rockfalls that blocked already fragile mountain roads in Kunar, delaying relief operations. Although international aid has begun arriving, hundreds of villagers in Nurgal district remain stranded in makeshift shelters, crammed under tarps salvaged from the wreckage, uncertain where their next meal will come from.

A shortage of supplies has already sparked tension. In Mazar Dara, where hundreds of displaced residents are sheltering in the open, a scuffle broke out when limited food finally reached the camp. “Yesterday, some people brought food, and everyone rushed at them. People are starving—we haven’t eaten in a long time,” said 48-year-old Zahir Khan Safi.

The humanitarian response is being further complicated by Afghanistan’s fragile infrastructure and years of conflict. The World Health Organization warned that the country’s healthcare system is “under immense strain,” facing critical shortages of trauma supplies, medicines, and medical staff. The agency has appealed for $4 million to scale up mobile health services and deliver essential aid. “Every hour counts,” said Jamshed Tanoli, WHO’s emergency team lead in Afghanistan. “Hospitals are struggling, families are grieving, and survivors have lost everything.”

Compounding the crisis, Afghanistan has faced a steep decline in foreign assistance since the withdrawal of US aid earlier this year, depleting already scarce emergency stockpiles. Aid agencies and the UN have cautioned that the quake adds another layer to a country already battling overlapping humanitarian disasters.

Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said more than 500,000 people had been affected across eastern Afghanistan. The country continues to grapple with entrenched poverty, severe drought, and the return of millions of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

Even as Afghanistan struggles with the devastation, neighboring Pakistan has stepped up efforts to expel Afghan refugees. On Tuesday alone, over 6,300 people crossed the Torkham border point in quake-hit Nangarhar province.