UAE sends search and rescue teams to Afghanistan as earthquake death toll nears 1,000

President Sheikh Mohamed issues order to help those affected by the tremor

The UAE on Monday sent search and rescue teams to support efforts to aid those affected by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan.

President Sheikh Mohamed directed teams from Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, the National Guard and the Joint Operations Command to assist the response to the tremor.

The UAE also sent urgent humanitarian aid, including essential relief supplies such as food, medicine and tents, to support those affected, state news agency Wam reported.

Afghanistan players maintain focus after earthquake to beat UAE

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The earthquake has killed nearly 1,000 people and injured more than 2,800, the Taliban government said on Tuesday.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit about 27km from Jalalabad, the country's fifth-largest city, at about midnight local time on Sunday, destroying numerous villages in the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare.

The Joint Operations Command has intensified its relief efforts in Afghanistan. Today, three aircraft took off carrying more than 105 tonnes of food supplies to support and assist those affected by the earthquake that struck the eastern regions of Afghanistan. Photo: WAM

Earthquake-affected people receive relief aid distributed by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in the Dewa Gul Valley of Sawkay district in Kunar province. AFP

Workers load supplies onto a truck for earthquake victims in Nurgal district, Kunar province. Reuters

A doctor tends to an injured Afghan woman outside her damaged house in Kunar province. Reuters

Paramedics reach areas affected by an earthquake in Kunar. EPA

People sit outside their damaged houses. Reuters

Afghan volunteers collect donations for victims in Jalalabad. AP

A woman and her children wait for assistance in the village of Wadir. AP

Rescue officials prepare to airlift injured people to hospital. EPA

Residents from surrounding towns and villages try to reach the quake-hit region to assist survivors. AP

The body of a girl is placed on a bed frame after being pulled from the rubble. AP

Afghan boys sit on the rubble of a house after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Sunday, at Lulam village, in Nurgal district, Kunar province. Reuters

Villagers wait for assistance in the village of Wadir. AP

A boy injured during Sunday's earthquake lies in a hospital bed in Jalalabad. AP

Rescue volunteers and Taliban security officers move the injured by military helicopter following a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in the Mazar Dara village of Nurgal, north-east of Jalalabad. AFP

Earthquake damage at Mazar Dara village in Nurgal district, eastern Afghanistan. AFP

An Afghan carries the body of a relative in a shroud from a ruined house following earthquakes in the Mazar Dara village of Nurgal, eastern Afghanistan. AFP

Bearers take the deceased to a funeral ceremony after earthquakes at Mazar Dara village in Nurgal district, eastern Afghanistan. AFP

An injured boy receives hospital treatment after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. AFP

Afghans donate blood in Nangarhar. Hundreds are known to have died in the earthquake, with the death toll expected to rise. AP

Volunteers transport an injured man to hospital. AFP

Taliban soldiers and civilians carry earthquake survivors to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad. Reuters

“Rescue operations are still under way there and several villages have been completely destroyed,” said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Taliban Ministry of Public Health. “The figures for martyrs and injured are changing. Medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area.”

Rescuers work through the night

The head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP that "operations continued throughout the night".

He said there were "still injured people left in the distant villages" in need of evacuation to hospitals.

Villagers joined the rescue efforts, using their bare hands to clear debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys.

Some of the hardest-hit villages remain inaccessible due to blocked roads, the UN migration agency said.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his “full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake”.

“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he said in a post on X. The UN team in Afghanistan will spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas, he added.