The UAE has sent aid planes carrying food and medical supplies to Afghanistan to offer a lifeline to people counting the cost of an earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people.
Three planes carried 105 tonnes of food on Sunday night as part of an air and sea aid route established by the UAE. The relief was sent after the Emirates Red Crescent, the philanthropic arm of the UAE Government, delivered its first batch of medical aid to the country.
On Monday, an airlift from Dubai Humanitarian sent a further 84 tonnes of medical supplies, shelter materials and relief items valued at Dh3.4 million ($930,000).
It was organised in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Humanitarian Response Depot and the UN Children’s Fund.
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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
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by at least five aftershocks, hit remote areas in mountainous provinces of Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan on August 31, reducing homes to rubble. The epicentre was about 27km north-east of the city of Jalalabad, the US Geological Survey said. The tremor struck 8km below the Earth's surface – shallow quakes can inflict greater damage.
Afghanistan was hit by two more powerful earthquakes on Tuesday and Thursday last week. Two aftershocks hit 12 hours apart on Friday.
President Sheikh Mohamed previously directed teams from Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, the National Guard and the Joint Operations Command to assist in the response to the earthquake.
