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Afghans Appeal for International Help as Earthquake Death Toll Tops 1,400

HeadlineSep 02, 2025

In Afghanistan, the death toll from Sunday’s earthquake in a remote mountainous area near the Pakistan border has topped 1,400 and is expected to rise, with thousands more injured by the disaster. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit Afghanistan in over a decade, with aftershocks felt in neighboring Pakistan and as far away as India. Roads have been blocked, and communications have been disrupted. Aid workers are forced to walk for hours to reach affected communities. Here’s one of the survivors, Mohammad Ibrahim.

Mohammad Ibrahim: “A total of 25 people from my family were martyred, and they’re still under the rubble. I ask the international community to provide us with aid, and God will grant them rewards.”

The U.S. offered its condolences on X, without pledging any aid. An official from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan told Reuters that U.S. aid cuts have hampered the response to the earthquake, saying, “The number of people we have on the ground is much less than we would have had six months ago.” Meanwhile, China, India, Pakistan, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates have all pledged disaster relief assistance to Afghanistan.

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