In the south-eastern province of Paktika in Afghanistan, less than 20 miles from the Pakistani border, the epicenter of last week’s earthquake is approximately 20 miles away.
The village of Dwegur is easy to overlook if you’re not looking for it. Its dispersed mud dwellings appear to meld with the surrounding slope.
The majority of its homes have been obliterated. In addition, the remaining structures are riddled with dangerously deep fissures, rendering them inhabitable. Due to its isolated location, neither the Taliban government nor aid organizations have been able to approach it with assistance. No journalists had been there before our arrival.
At the northern outskirts of the settlement, the home of 20-year-old Arafat Gyankhail had stood on a slope. Stones, window frames, and personal possessions are scattered around the remains.
“That night, I heard what sounded like a large explosion and was struck on the head. I believed that I was going to die. But I managed to escape from beneath the debris “he claimed.
“I cleared away muck and rocks before discovering my mother. Upon contact, I realized she was deceased.”
Arafat’s face shows signs of trauma. Zardari, his mother, was fifty years old. He informed us that she had switched sleeping positions with him the night of the earthquake.
“I sorely miss her,” he remarked.
Also killed were the wife and two children of his brother, as well as a 12-year-old boy from another household. Dozens of residents have been hurt.
Four grandsons of Zapir Khan are hospitalized, one with a brain injury. “Everything we worked for and created has disappeared. We need support, “he added.
No one in the community has started clearing the rubble. Taj Ali Khan, a village elder, explained that this is because they fear another earthquake.
“We’ve been experiencing numerous aftershocks. There are at least two per day. Last night at 11 o’clock, there was one that roused us all. No one is willing to enter the ruins of their homes, therefore we are forced to sleep outside “he remarked.
“In my village, there is so much hunger and despair. No one has arrived to assist us.”
They have stretched plastic sheets and pieces of fabric between bamboo poles that have been driven into the soil. The women sleep in the improvised tents. The men sleep outside. In these mountainous regions, thunderstorms occur frequently.
Food and other relief supplies have arrived in Gayan, almost one hour distant, from humanitarian organizations and the Taliban government. Even from the nearest town, it takes hours to reach that location via dirt tracks that loop around mountains and cross rivers. The travel time for loaded trucks is much slower.
Gayan is located further uphill from Dwegur.
“Every day, our peasants travel to Gayan to beg for relief, but they always return empty-handed,” said Taj Ali Khan. I appeal to the world for assistance. We require food and funds to repair our homes.”
Even before the earthquake, rural residents barely had enough to survive. Some work as laborers, while others gather pine nuts from the forest in the surrounding mountains.
Locals informed us that numerous further communities in the mountains to the east and north were also devastated by the earthquake. Also there, they reported, that no aid has arrived.
Afghanistan requires substantial assistance, not just in the form of food packages and relief supplies but also assistance in reaching these remote regions. Possibly an air force or trained disaster response teams could accomplish this, but the Taliban lack such capabilities.
When a natural disaster strikes a developing nation, nations from all over the world contribute skilled professionals or military units to assist with recovery efforts.
However, Afghanistan’s government is not internationally recognized. People have been left to deal with the aftermath of an earthquake on their own, fearing that another one could strike at any moment.
