Politics
Afghan quake survivors left waiting for aid
Rescue teams struggled to reach survivors days after a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan left more than 1,400 people dead, as access to remote areas remained obstructed.
A magnitude-6.0 shallow earthquake hit the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late Sunday, collapsing mud-brick homes on families as they slept.
Fearful of the near-constant aftershocks, people huddled in the open or struggled to unearth those trapped under the heaps of flattened buildings.
The earthquake killed at least 1,469 people and injured more than 3,700, according to the latest toll from Taliban authorities, making it one of the deadliest in decades to hit the impoverished country.
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said on X that the quake had “affected more than 500,000 people” in eastern Afghanistan.
The vast majority of the casualties were in Kunar province, with a dozen dead and hundreds hurt in nearby Nangarhar and Laghman provinces.
Access remained difficult, as aftershocks caused rockfall, stymying access to already isolated villages and keeping families outdoors for fear of the remains of damaged homes collapsing on them.
‘Everyone is afraid’
“Everyone is afraid and there are many aftershocks,” Awrangzeeb Noori, 35, told AFP from the village of Dara-i-Nur in Nangarhar province. “We spend all day and night in the field without shelter.”
The non-governmental group Save the Children said one of its aid teams “had to walk for 20 kilometres (12 miles) to reach villages cut off by rock falls, carrying medical equipment on their backs with the help of community members”.
The World Health Organisation said Wednesday it was scaling up its emergency response to address the “immense” needs and that it required more resources in order to “prevent further losses”.
WHO has appealed for $4 million to deliver lifesaving health interventions and expand mobile health services and supply distribution.
“Every hour counts,” WHO emergency team lead in Afghanistan Jamshed Tanoli said in a statement. “Hospitals are struggling, families are grieving and survivors have lost everything.”
The Taliban government’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat told AFP that areas which had taken days to reach had been finally accessed.
“We cannot determine the date for finishing the operation in all areas as the area is very mountainous and it is very difficult to reach every area.”
ActionAid noted that women and girls were particularly vulnerable in emergencies as they face steep restrictions under the Taliban authorities.
Residents of Jalalabad, the nearest city to the epicentre, donated money and goods including blankets.
“I am a simple labourer and I came here to help the earthquake victims because I felt very sad for them,” said resident Mohammad Rahman.
Deepening crisis
Around 85% of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar per day, according to the United Nations.
After decades of conflict, Afghanistan faces endemic poverty, severe drought and the influx of millions of Afghans sent back to the country by neighbouring countries in the years since the Taliban takeover.
The Norwegian Refugee Council cautioned that “forcing Afghans to return will only deepen the crisis”.
It is the third major earthquake since the Taliban authorities took power in 2021, but there are even fewer resources for the cash-strapped government’s response after the United States slashed assistance to the country when President Donald Trump took office in January.
Even before the earthquake, the United Nations estimated it had obtained less than a third of the funding required for operations countrywide.
In two days, the Taliban government’s defence ministry said it organised 155 helicopter flights to evacuate around 2,000 injured and their relatives to regional hospitals.
Fitrat said a camp had been set up in Khas Kunar district to coordinate emergency aid, while two other sites were opened near the epicentre “to oversee the transfer of the injured, the burial of the dead, and the rescue of survivors”.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, with the country still recovering from previous disasters.
Western Herat province was devastated in October 2023 by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a significant statement aimed at easing regional tensions, assuring that Iran will not launch missile strikes or take aggressive action against neighbouring countries.
The president said the decision was taken with the approval of the Interim Leadership Council, stressing that Iran’s policy of non-aggression will remain in place as long as no attacks are carried out on Iranian territory.
Commitment to Peace
In a message shared on social media, Pezeshkian said Iran harbours no hostility toward regional countries and expressed regret over the recent tensions affecting neighbouring states.
“We harbor no hostility toward regional countries and apologize for the recent situation with our neighbors,” the president said.
Sovereignty Will Be Protected
While calling for peace, Pezeshkian also emphasized that Iran’s sovereignty and national security would not be compromised.
He added that diplomatic efforts and mediation aimed at ending the ongoing conflict should be led by the countries that initiated the confrontation.
Regional De-escalation Efforts
The statement comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East following military exchanges involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, prompting calls from several countries for de-escalation and dialogue to restore regional stability.
DUBAI: Dubai has announced the implementation of a new public safety law introducing stricter regulations for public spaces and events, with fines ranging from AED500 ($136) to AED1 million ($272,000), authorities said.
Under the legislation, repeat violations within one year could result in fines of up to AED2 million, officials added.
The new law, which takes effect across the emirate on June 1, sets out enhanced safety requirements for public venues and gatherings.
The rules were issued by Dubai’s Ruler, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
According to the regulations, public venues and events must ensure safe entry and exit routes, adequate lighting, and capacity limits to prevent overcrowding.
Event organisers will be required to provide firefighting equipment, emergency evacuation plans, first aid facilities, and trained security personnel.
Compliance with safety instructions at public venues has been made mandatory.
The law also requires adherence to designated swimming times at beaches and prohibits access to restricted areas.
Possession of explosives or fireworks without a permit is banned, as is the use and transport of hazardous or flammable materials.
India has allowed an Iranian warship to dock as a humanitarian gesture, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday, after the US sank another Iranian navy vessel off neighbouring Sri Lanka.
The Lavan docked at India’s southern port of Kochi on Wednesday, the same day the US submarine struck Iranian navy frigate Dena, after an urgent request from Tehran, an Indian government source told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump has said destroying the Iranian navy is one aim of the war he and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic a week ago.
The Lavan – an amphibious landing vessel, according to the US Naval Institute’s online news site – and two other ships “were coming in for a fleet review and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of the events,” Jaishankar told the annual Raisina Dialogue event.
“I think we really approached it from the point of view of humanity, of other than whatever the legal issues were,” he said. “I think we did the right thing.”
At least 87 people were killed in the US attack on the Dena in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone, 19 nautical miles off the coast, outside its maritime boundaries.
India received the docking request for the Lavan on February 28, the day the Iran war started, the source said late on Friday, adding that the request “was urgent as the vessel had developed technical issues”.
Its 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, said the source, who asked not to be identified citing confidentiality.
The Dena was on its way back from a naval exercise organised by India, according to the drill’s website and Sri Lankan officials.
Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday that they were escorting the Iranian naval ship Booshehr to a harbour on the eastern coast and moving most of its crew to a navy camp near Colombo.
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