Afghanistan: the last place on Earth that needs another crisis

After decades of conflict and natural disaster, Afghanistan has been hit by another catastrophe, leaving its already crippled health system struggling to cope.

An Afghan man stands near a damaged house after the earthquakes in Sarbuland village in the Zendeh Jan district of Herat province on Sunday. Picture: AFP

After decades of conflict and natural disaster, Afghanistan has been hit by another catastrophe, leaving its already crippled health system struggling to cope.

Taliban officials have called for international help but are still shunned by most countries after they seized power in 2021.

The United Nations and other humanitarian organisations are rushing emergency supplies to the districts of Zinda Jan and Ghourian, near to the provincial capital of Herat city.

Rescue and aid distribution efforts have been hindered by a lack of proper roads and the Taliban’s restriction of aid from local charities.

Food, water, clothes, medicine and tents are urgently needed but have been slow to reach those in need. Many of the mud houses that have not been destroyed will be fragile and unsafe for people to return to. Instead, families have been forced to sleep outside with little to protect them from the cold.

Afghan mourners sit beside a grave after funeral prayers for their relative's body from the earthquakes in Sarbuland village, Zendeh Jan district of Herat province on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Afghanistan was plunged deeper into an economic and humanitarian crisis after the Taliban takeover, due to aid cuts and sanctions. Tensions have continued to mount between the Taliban and world leaders over draconian restrictions on women’s rights and the group’s failure to form an inclusive government. This deterioration of relationships means donor support will continue to evaporate.

The death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan rose sharply again on Sunday to more than 2,000, with nearly 10,000 injured, as rescue workers dug through razed villages for vanishing signs of life. Picture: AFP

Already, 15.3 million people face acute food insecurity and nearly 60 per cent of households have difficulty accessing safe water. The thousands of people who have lost family members after Saturday’s earthquake will now be in even greater need of support.

It is the people of Afghanistan who will continue to suffer unless sanctions are removed and aid projects are allowed to continue.