26 Dead After 5.3 Earthquake Hits Herat, Western Afghanistan and the victims died when the roofs of their homes collapsed on them.
The victims died when roofs of their residential houses collapsed in the western province of Badghis, Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, spokesman for the province Baz Mohammad Sarwary told AFP.
The quake was magnitude 5.3, according to the US Geological Survey. “Five women and four children are among the 26 people killed in the earthquake,” said Sarwary, adding that four more were injured.
The quake also inflicted damage on the residents of Muqr district in the province but details including of casualties were still unavailable, he said.
“The worst-hit areas were Badruk, Darband-e-Safed and Khak Polak localities in Qadis district, east of the provincial capital Qala-e-Naw,” Xinhua news agency quoted district chief Mohammad Saleh Purdil. Multiple houses were affected by the quake which occurred at 4:10 p.m., and the number of casualties may rise, the source said. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 jolted 40 km east of Qala-e-Naw, the provincial capital of Badghis which borders Turkmenistan.
Afghanistan Facing A Human Rights Crisis
🇦🇫 "The people of #Afghanistan face a profound humanitarian crisis that threatens the most basic of human rights" – @NadaNashif updates @UN_HRC on Afghanistan and outlines main concerns on the economic crisis, shrinking civic space and women's rights: https://t.co/8XYW5Kw7Qo pic.twitter.com/CM5PF7jrNR — UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) December 14, 2021
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.
The country is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
Earthquakes can cause significant damage to poorly built homes and buildings in impoverished Afghanistan.
Extrajudicial killings
Despite a general amnesty by the Taliban, announced in August, her office has received “credible allegations” of more than 100 killings of former Afghan national security forces and others associated with the former Government.
At least 72 killings were attributed to the Taliban, and in several cases the bodies were publicly displayed.
“In Nangarhar province alone, there also appears to be a pattern of at least 50 extra-judicial killings of individuals suspected to be members of the ISIL-KP. Brutal methods of killings, including hanging, beheadings, and public display of corpses have been reported,” she added.
Concern for women and children
Ms. Al-Nashif was also deeply concerned about the continued risk of child recruitment, particularly boys, by both ISIL-KP and the de facto authorities. Children also continue to comprise the majority of civilians killed and injured by unexploded ordnance.
Meanwhile, women and girls face great uncertainty when it comes to respecting their rights to education, livelihoods and participation. Some 4.2 million young Afghans are already out of school, 60 per cent of them girls.
There has also been a decline in girls’ secondary school attendance, even in provinces where the de facto authorities have permitted them to attend school. This is largely due to the absence of women teachers, since in some locations girls are only allowed to be taught by women.
Furthermore, women are largely prohibited from working, except for some teachers, health workers and NGO staff. They also cannot take products to market since local de facto authorities have closed women-operated bazaars.
“Many Afghan women and girls now have to be accompanied by a male relative whenever they leave their residence. These are strictly enforced in some places, but not all,” Ms. Al-Nashif told the Council.
She warned that UN partners estimate that restricting women from working will contribute to an immediate economic loss of up to $1 billion.
Civil society under attack
Afghan civil society has also come under attack in recent months. Since August, at least eight activists and two journalists have been killed, and others injured, by unidentified armed men.
The UN mission in the country, UNAMA, has documented nearly 60 apparently arbitrary detentions, beatings, and threats of activists, journalists, and staff of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, attributed to the de facto authorities.
Several women’s rights defenders have also been threatened, and there is widespread fear of reprisals since a violent crackdown on women’s peaceful protests in September. Many media outlets have shuttered, as have numerous civil society groups.
Unable to help during lockdown
Furthermore, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has been unable to operate since August, while the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association faces a loss of independence as the de facto authorities now administer its activities under the de facto Ministry of Justice.
“The safety of Afghan judges, prosecutors, and lawyers – particularly women legal professionals – is a matter for particular alarm,” Ms. Al-Nashif added. “Many are currently in hiding for fear of retribution, including from convicted prisoners who were freed by the de facto authorities, notably men convicted of gender-based violence.”
Ms. Al-Nashif stressed that upholding human rights is critical for Afghanistan to move forward.
“The de facto authorities’ respect for and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons in Afghanistan, without discrimination, is integral to ensuring stability. Failure to uphold human rights will inevitably lead to further turmoil and unrest, and will hold back Afghanistan’s development,” she said.
“Moreover, as a member of the international community, Afghanistan is bound by the existing international obligations of the treaties it has ratified. Obligations under these treaties remain in place, regardless of the particular authorities exercising effective power.”
“Avalanche of hunger and destitution”: WFP
The disintegrating Afghan economy is making it difficult for people to get enough to eat, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
“Afghanistan is facing an avalanche of hunger and destitution the likes of which I have never seen in my twenty plus years with the World Food Programme,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the agency’s Country Director there.
Terrible Times of Deprivation and Poverty
WFP’s latest phone survey found an estimated 98 per cent of Afghans are not consuming enough food, a worrisome 17 per cent increase since August.
Families are barely coping, the agency said, and are resorting to desperate measures with the onset of winter, with eight in 10 eating less, and seven in 10 borrowing food just to get by.
Rita
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