As hundreds of families mourn the death of their loved ones killed in the devastating Herat earthquake on Saturday, aid along with extra rescue workers started arriving in the area on Monday and countries and organizations around the world stepped in and pledged assistance.
For survivors, aid is now critical, especially as temperatures are dropping fast.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that Washington is “carefully tracking” the effects of the earthquake. “Our humanitarian partners are responding with urgent aid in support of the people of Afghanistan,” Blinken said on X.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, wrote on X that EU humanitarian partners are on the ground to help and quickly assess the impact and will respond “accordingly.”
“We will continue to support Afghan people, already facing hardship,” he said.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the EU stood in full “solidarity” with people affected by “this terrible event.”
“EU teams have already reached the disaster area to help,” he wrote on his X account.
On the other hand, the World Food Programme (WFP), said that it has started distributing aid to the vulnerable people.
A spokesman for the WFP Afghanistan, Wahidullah Amani, said that the agency will soon start distributing aid packages for around 20,000 families affected by the earthquake.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, meanwhile said in a phone call with the Taliban’s acting foreign minister that Tehran would provide assistance to the earthquake-affected people.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, said in a statement that Iranian rescue and aid organizations have traveled to Afghanistan.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, Kamikawa Yōko, said in a statement that Japan will “swiftly” provide necessary assistance in collaboration with international organizations to address the hardship of the vulnerable people.
“Japan stands with the people of Afghanistan and will continue to work on the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan,” she said.
In addition to foreign assistance, numerous Afghanistan nationals, from a number of provinces including Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar, set up funding campaigns for earthquake victims.
The office of the Taliban’s deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar confirmed he headed a delegation to Herat on Monday to assess the situation and provide emergency assistance.
Mullah Janan Saiq, a spokesman for the State Ministry for Disaster Management, said that a commission has been established to collect aid for the earthquake-affected families.
However, some of the people affected by the earthquake in the interview with “…”, voiced their concerns over unfair distribution of aid.
The Taliban have yet to clarify the amount of money collected in aid campaigns for the affected people.
