Afghanistan earthquakes: Taliban interference in aid efforts is affecting disaster response

By Michael Semple, Visiting Research Professor, The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace Security and Justice, Queen's University Belfast

Over 1,000 people are thought to have been killed in the latest earthquake to hit Afghanistan. Humanitarian aid agencies are scrambling to help the affected villages. But the realities of Taliban rule are starting to have an impact on the ground, as relations between the authorities and NGOs fray.

Two earthquakes struck Afghanistan’s western province of Herat on October 7 and a third on October 11. Zindajan district, 50km west of Herat, was the worst affected area. It is a rural area of scattered hamlets,…

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