UN warns Afghan hospitals overwhelmed as quake survivors face shortages of medicine, staff, and equipment.
Moscow
Russia has dispatched humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan following last weekend’s devastating earthquake that claimed more than 2,200 lives in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed on Friday that a cargo plane carrying 20 tonnes of food supplies had landed in Kabul. The relief effort comes as Afghanistan faces one of its worst natural disasters in recent years, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation. “On the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, a second batch of humanitarian aid will soon be dispatched,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.
The 6.2 magnitude quake struck on September 4, causing widespread destruction and leaving more than 500,000 people affected, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Filippo Grandi, the agency’s head, said the scale of the disaster demands urgent global attention. The World Health Organization has also sounded an alarm, warning that local hospitals are overwhelmed with trauma patients and running short of medicines, medical staff, and equipment.
The disaster comes amid severe funding shortages for aid agencies working In Afghanistan, particularly after the withdrawal of U.S. foreign aid earlier this year. Some Western nations remain hesitant to extend direct assistance due to the Taliban’s rule since 2021. Russia, which formally recognised the Taliban government earlier this year, is among the few countries to have extended state-level support. Officials in Kabul have welcomed the aid, stressing that further international cooperation is vital to address the crisis.
