The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has appealed for Russia’s help with rescue and relief efforts after one of the worst earthquakes in recent years hit the country overnight, a senior Russian official said Monday.
“They reached out and our Emergency Situations Ministry is working on it,” Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative on Afghanistan, told the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry had not officially commented on Kabulov’s statement as of Monday evening.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan just before midnight on Sunday, killing around 800 people in the remote Kunar province and another 12 in the neighboring Nangarhar province. Nangarhar and Kunar provinces border Pakistan.
The earthquake’s epicenter was about 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the USGS, which said it struck about 8 kilometers below the Earth's surface.
A spokesperson of Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said earlier on Monday that no foreign governments had reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work so far.
Russia, which was the first country to officially recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in July, has not officially extended condolences to the Taliban. President Vladimir Putin is currently visiting China for a regional summit and World War II victory celebrations.
Ravil Gainutdin, the chairman of the Council of Muftis, a religious group representing Russia’s Muslim community, expressed personal condolences to the Taliban and the Afghan people.
The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the U.S.-backed government and imposed an austere version of Islamic law.
Since then, Russia has taken steps to normalize relations with the Taliban authorities, removing them from a list of “terrorist organizations” in April and accepting a Taliban ambassador in Kabul.
In July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism.”
AFP contributed reporting.
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