The quake struck as almost half the population – 20 million people – were experiencing acute hunger, according to a report backed by the United Nations in May. It is a situation exacerbated by the Taliban seizure of power in August 2021, which led the United States and its allies to freeze about $ 7 billion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and cut international funding. The situation has crippled an economy that is already heavily dependent on aid. Following the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, its economy has been in free fall with the World Bank predicting in April that “the combination of declining incomes and rising prices has led to a serious deterioration in household living standards.” The Taliban held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to arrange for the transportation of the wounded and material assistance to the victims and their families, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund called the meeting at the country’s Presidential Palace to order all relevant services to send emergency teams to the affected area, Mujahid said in a tweet. “Measures have also been taken to provide financial assistance and care,” Mujahid said, adding that the services “have been instructed to use air and land transport to deliver food, clothing, medicine and other necessities and to transport the wounded.” Najibullah Sadid, Afghanistan’s water management expert, also said the quake coincided with heavy monsoon rains in the area – making traditional houses, much of the mud and other natural materials, particularly vulnerable to damage. “The time of the earthquake (in) the darkness of night… and the small depth of 10 kilometers of its epicenter led to higher casualties,” he added.
