Afghanistan Quake Kills Nearly 1,000

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KABUL (Worthy News) – A powerful earthquake has killed nearly a thousand people and left hundreds injured in eastern Afghanistan, authorities say.

At a news conference, Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, the deputy minister for disaster management, said the reported death toll of 955 was likely to rise.

Wednesday’s magnitude 6.1 quake struck around 44 kilometers (27 miles) from the city of Khost, located near the border with Pakistan.

Local official Bilal Karimi confirmed the “severe earthquake” killed and injured “hundreds of our countrymen and destroyed dozens of houses” in four districts of Paktika province.

The Afghan disaster management authorities said that besides those killed, at least 610 people had been injured.

“We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe,” Karimi added on the social networking site Twitter.

The quake shook a nation already in turmoil following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Islamic Taliban group and the chaotic withdrawal of the United States and its allies.

It was not immediately clear how efficient international aid organizations could operate in a country with strict Islamic rules and where minority Christians are reportedly facing death.

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