After hours a A 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan Before dawn on Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 500 others, India reached out to the Taliban regime and sent relief materials including food and medicine.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called Taliban-led Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and offered his condolences. Their conversation came weeks after the Taliban leader’s visit to India in early October.
Jaishankar posted on
He added that he discussed progress in bilateral relations. “He welcomed the improvement in people-to-people contacts between India and Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said, adding that he “appreciated the exchange of views on the regional situation.”
“Emphasizing its support to the Afghan people, India is providing food items to earthquake-affected families,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, with the hashtag #Indiafirstresponder.
The sources said that 15 tons of food were sent, including about 50 packages. Each package contains 100 kg of wheat flour, 50 kg of rice, 30 liters of cooking oil, 28 kg of sugar and salt, 14 kg of lentils, beans and peas, 4 kg of tea, 30 bars of soap, and four liters of dishwasher soap.
The US Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the earthquake was located 22 kilometers west-southwest of the town of Kholm, and that it occurred at 12:59 a.m. at a depth of 28 kilometers.
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Sharafat Zaman, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said that 534 injured people and 20 bodies were transferred to hospitals in Balkh and Samangan provinces. He added that rescuers are at the scene and that the numbers are changing.
In neighboring Badakhshan province, the earthquake partially or completely destroyed 800 homes in one village in the Shahr Bozorg district, said Ehsanullah Kamjar, spokesman for the provincial police headquarters. He added that with no internet in the remote area, there are still no accurate numbers of victims.
In the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Ministry of Defense announced that rescue and emergency teams had arrived in the cities of Balkh and Samangan, which suffered the greatest amount of damage, and were transporting the injured and helping others.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, posted on the X website that the earthquake caused casualties and financial losses. He said that government organizations are working to obtain the necessary assistance.
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Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesperson said in a series of posts on Sunday: “The Government of India has made an important gesture of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan by gifting over 16 tons of anti-vector-borne disease drugs and diagnostic kits to the Ministry of Public Health. This donation is part of India’s ongoing commitment to support the health sector in Afghanistan and strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of public health and disease prevention. The medicines and diagnostic kits will directly support malaria and other vector-borne disease prevention efforts in Afghanistan. The programme.”
“The supplies are aimed at strengthening the country’s capacity to combat diseases such as malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis, which continue to pose serious public health challenges in many areas of Afghanistan. The leadership of the Ministry of Public Health expressed deep appreciation to the Government of India for its valuable and timely assistance. The Ministry noted that these medicines and diagnostic kits represent a critical step towards improving public health infrastructure and ensuring effective disease control, especially in vulnerable and high-risk communities,” the spokesperson said.
“This latest donation underscores India’s long-standing partnership and development support for Afghanistan. By contributing essential medical supplies, India reaffirms its role as a trusted partner in promoting health, stability and humanitarian cooperation in the region,” the spokesperson said.
—With agency inputs from Afghanistan
(Tags for translation) Afghanistan earthquake
