At least 26 people were killed after an earthquake hit western Afghanistan yesterday.
A spokesman for the province Baz Mohammad Sarwary told AFP the victims died when roofs of their houses collapsed in Qadis district in the western province of Badghis.
The shallow quake was magnitude 5.3, according to the US Geological Survey. Sarwary said “Five women and four children are among the 26 people killed in the earthquake,” adding that four more were injured.
He said the quake also inflicted damage on the residents of Muqr district in the province but details including of casualties were still unavailable.
Afghanistan is already in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country in August when Western countries froze international aid and access to assets held abroad.
Qadis is one of the areas worst affected by a devastating drought, benefiting little from international aid in the past 20 years.
