2,200 people confirmed dead in devastating Afghanistan earthquake after huge number of undiscovered bodies are found
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from houses destroyed by a major earthquake in Afghanistan last week, pushing the death toll to more than 2,200, a Taliban government spokesman has said.
A 6.0-magnitude quake struck several provinces of the mountainous and remote east of the country on Sunday night, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble.
At least five provinces were impacted by the quake, felt hardest in the Kunar and Nangarhar regions - among the most remote and impoverished in the country, Human Appeal said.
The majority of casualties have been in Kunar, where many live in steep river valleys separated by high mountains. 2,205 people died and 3,640 were injured in Kunar, according to a Taliban government toll.
Another 12 people were killed and hundreds injured in the neighbouring provinces of Nangarhar and Laghman.
Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, who provided the updated casualty figures, said rescue and search efforts were continuing.
'Tents have been set up for people, and the delivery of first aid and emergency supplies is ongoing,' he said.
The rough terrain is hindering relief efforts. Taliban authorities have deployed helicopters and airdropped army commandos to help survivors.
Aid workers have reported walking for hours to reach villages cut off by landslides and rockfall. Funding cuts are also having an impact on the response.
An Afghan man sits amid the remains of a damaged house, in the aftermath of an earthquake at the Dara-i-Nur district of Nangarhar province on September 3
A view of houses damaged in the earthquake in Kunar, Afghanistan, September 3
A military helicopter airlifts injured Afghans after earthquakes at Mazar Dara village in Nurgal district, Kunar province, in Eastern Afghanistan, on September 1 2025
The Norwegian refugee council said it had fewer than 450 staff in Afghanistan whereas it had 1,100 in 2023, the date of the last major quake in the country.
The council had only one warehouse remaining and no emergency stock.
'We will need to purchase items once we get the funding but this will take potentially weeks and people are in need now,' Maisam Shafiey, communications and advocacy adviser for the council in Afghanistan, said.
'We have only 100,000 US dollars (£74,000) available to support emergency response efforts. This leaves an immediate funding gap of 1.9 million dollars (£1.4 million).'
Humanitarian organisations have called the latest disaster a crisis within a crisis.
Afghanistan was already struggling with the impact of climate change, particularly drought, a weak economy and the return of some two million Afghans from neighbouring countries.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned that the quake in Afghanistan was likely to 'dwarf' the scale of the humanitarian needs caused by the Herat earthquakes of 2023, which the Taliban said killed some 4,000 people.
Sherine Ibrahim, IRC Afghanistan Country Director, said at the time: 'Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain that this disaster will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan.
'Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
'It is high time that the international community recognises the immense need in the country and steps up support for Afghans who are in critical need.'
An injured victim of the earthquake receives treatment at a hospital in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, September 3, 2025
The earthquake was the third major quake since the Taliban seized power in 2021
Various countries have flown in aid, but hundreds of villagers in the hard-hit Nurgal district were still stranded in the open air, squeezing multiple families under pieces of tarp pulled from the rubble and unsure of where they would get a morsel to eat.
A fight broke out over food when some finally reached the field in Mazar Dara where hundreds of people were camped out, little aid having reached them.
'Yesterday, some people brought some food, everyone flooded on them, people are starving, we haven't had anything to eat for a long time,' Zahir Khan Safi, 48, told AFP.
Human Appeal UK, a British humanitarian charity based in Manchester, said in a statement shared today that it was launching an emergency response initiative aiming to reach 17,500 people with aid.
Hameed Al-Asaly, CEO of Human Appeal UK, said: 'Some of the most vulnerable and remote areas of Afghanistan have been devastated by this earthquake, with many lives lost and homes destroyed.
'Our teams are working tirelessly to deliver life-saving aid on the ground. We will continue to adapt our response to meet the evolving needs of affected communities—both now and in the months ahead.
'We urge the public to support this vital effort as survivors begin the long road to recovery.'
With entire villages destroyed and the death toll expected to rise, the need for aid is increasingly critical, the charity explained.
Landslides triggered by the aftershocks have blocked key roads, isolating communities and overwhelming local hospitals.
An injured child victim of the earthquake sits beside security officials in Kunar, September 3
A military helicopter delivering aid and transporting the injured sits near survivors and residents in a damaged area of Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2
Jeremy Smith, British Red Cross Country Manager for Afghanistan, said on Monday: 'The location of this earthquake is very remote and mountainous, which makes rescue efforts particularly challenging.
'There have been repeated aftershocks and more are feared in the coming days. Floods and landslides over the weekend have also affected rescue efforts.
'Sadly, people will be displaced for a long period into the winter as homes have been destroyed.
'The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is delivering vital aid and will continue to do so for as long as people need us.'
The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) is responding to help people affected by the quake, the British Red Cross said in a statement shared with the Daily Mail.
