A powerful earthquake struck the Rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people in the country's deadliest quick in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. An estimated 1,500 other were reported injured, and official said the death toll could rise.
the disaster inflicted by the 6.1 magnitude quake possd a major test for Afghanistan's taliban government . In a rare move, the taliban supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah almost never appeared in public, pleaded with the international community and humanitarian organisation "to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no affected to help the affected people."
"many people are still buried under the soil. the Rescue Teams of the Islamic Emirate have arrived and with the help of local people are trying to take out the
dead and injured," a health worker at the hospital in the hardhit Paktika province said, asking for anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.
The quake was centred in Paktika province, according to neighbouring Pakistan's metrological department. Expert put its depth at just 10 km the European seismological agency said the quake was felt over 500 km by 1 19 million people across Afghanistan Pakistan and India.
