Rescuers race to find Afghan quake survivors as death toll passes 1,400

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations warned of an exponential rise in casualties from a major earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, as the Taliban said the death toll passed 1,400 on Tuesday, with more than 3,000 people injured.

The figures provided by Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid were just for the province of Kunar.

Sunday night’s powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck several provinces, causing extensive damage. It flattened villages and trapped people under the rubble of homes constructed mostly of mud bricks and wood that were unable to withstand the shock.

Rough terrain is hampering rescue and relief efforts, forcing Taliban authorities to air-drop dozens of commandos to evacuate the injured from places where helicopters cannot land.

Aid agency Save the Children said one of its teams walked for over 12 miles (19 kilometers) to reach villages cut off by rock falls, carrying medical equipment on their backs with the help of community members.

An aftershock of 5.2 magnitude close to the epicenter of Sunday’s quake rattled the area on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage.

Indrika Ratwatte, the U.N.'s resident coordinator for Afghanistan, said rescuers are scrambling in a “race against time” to reach the mountainous and remote area. In a media briefing in Geneva Tuesday, he warned of a surge in casualty numbers.

“We cannot afford to forget the people of Afghanistan who are facing multiple crises, multiple shocks, and the resilience of the communities has been saturated,” Ratwatte said, while urging the international community to step forward.

“These are life and death decisions while we race against time to reach people," he said.

It is the third major earthquake since the Taliban seized power in 2021, and the latest crisis to beset Afghanistan, which is reeling from deep cuts to aid funding, a weak economy, and millions of people forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.

Ratwatte said that when the walls of wooden and mud homes collapse, the roof falls on the occupants, causing injury or death. While the area was low-density, the earthquake struck when everybody was asleep.

“If you were to model it based on what has happened before, clearly there’s no question that the casualty rate is going to be rather exponential,” he said.

The Taliban government, which is only recognized by Russia, has appealed for assistance from the international community and the humanitarian sector. However, help for Afghanistan is in short supply due to competing global crises and reduced aid budgets in donor countries.

The United Nations humanitarian office released $5 million from its emergency fund to help kickstart the U.N. response and that will be matched by $5 million from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Tuesday.

The U.N. has dispatched at least 25 assessment teams to the region, deploying essential items including blankets and solar lamps to areas that can be reached, Dujarric said. Humanitarian experts said that immediate priorities include emergency shelter, critical medical supplies, drinking water and emergency food aid.

The U.K. has pledged 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) to be split between humanitarian agencies rather than going to the Taliban government, which it does not recognize.

The European Union is sending 130 tons of emergency supplies and providing 1 million euros ($1.16 million). Other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, India and China have pledged disaster relief support.

But earthquake victims are bearing the brunt of opposition to the Taliban government, especially their restrictive policies on Afghan girls and women, including a ban on them working for NGOs. Donor countries had already scaled back their funding and, earlier this year, the U.S. gutted aid to Afghanistan, partly due to concerns that money was going to the Taliban administration.

Kate Carey, the deputy head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, said more than 420 health facilities had closed or were suspended due to the “massive reduction” in funding, with 80 of them in the eastern region, the heart of Sunday’s quake.

“The consequence is that the remaining facilities are overwhelmed, have insufficient supplies and personnel, and are not as close to the affected populations as the more local facilities at a time when providing emergency trauma care is needed in the first 24 to 72 hours of the earthquake response,” said Carey.

Taliban authorities have set up a camp in Kunar to organize supplies and emergency aid. There are also two centers to coordinate the transportation of the injured, the burial of the dead, and the rescue of survivors.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

A local resident walks through a partially collapsed house in an area devastated by Sunday's powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Dara Noor, Kunar province, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025,. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

Collapsed houses are seen in an area devastated by Sunday's powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Dara Noor, Kunar province, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025,. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

A boy walks through a partially collapsed house in an area devastated by Sunday's powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Dara Noor, Kunar province, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025,. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

A partially collapsed house is seen in an area devastated by Sunday's powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Dara Noor, Kunar province, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025,. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

A man and a boy cross a stream of water next to a house destroyed by an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

An injured person is carried to a military helicopter that landed to evacuate injured victims of an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

An injured person is carried to a military helicopter that landed to evacuate injured victims of an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

A military helicopter carrying Injured victims of an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan takes off in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

An injured person is carried to a military helicopter that landed to evacuate injured victims of an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)

DODOMA, Tanzania (AP) — Tanzania’s president has, for the first time since the disputed October election, commented on a six-day internet shutdown as the country went through its worst postelection violence.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday expressed “sympathy” to diplomats and foreign nationals living in the country, saying the government would strive to ensure there is never a repeat of the same.

Hassan won the October election with more than 97% of the vote after candidates from the two main opposition parties were barred from running and the country’s main opposition leader remained in prison facing treason charges.

Violence broke out on election day and went on for days as the internet was shut down amid a heavy police crackdown that left hundreds of people dead, according to rights groups.

Hassan blamed the violence on foreigners and pardoned hundreds of young people who had been arrested, saying they were acting under peer pressure.

Speaking to ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of international organizations on Thursday in the capital, Dodoma, she sought to reassure envoys of their safety, saying the government would remain vigilant to prevent a repeat of the disruption.

“To our partners in the diplomatic community and foreigners residing here in Tanzania, I express my sincere sympathy for the uncertainty, service restrictions and internet shutdowns you experienced,” she said.

Hassan defended her administration, saying the measures were taken to preserve constitutional order and protect citizens.

“I assure you that we will remain vigilant to ensure your safety and prevent any recurrence of such experiences,” the president told diplomats on Thursday.

Tanzania has, since the October elections, established a commission of inquiry to look into the violence that left hundreds dead and property worth millions of shillings destroyed in a country that has enjoyed relative calm for decades.

Foreign observers said the election failed to meet democratic standards because key opposition figures were barred.

FILE - Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers remarks during a campaign rally ahead of the general elections in Iringa, Tanzania, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo, File)