The Ministry of State for Natural Disaster Management said that the Islamic Emirate allocated 1 billion Afs to help the people affected in the earthquake that hit southeastern Afghanistan.
The epicenter was 44km from Khost city, and it measured 6.1 on the richter scale, according to USGS.
The earthquake hit four districts of Paktika province, killing nearly 1,000 people, according to officials, and injuring more than 1,500.
Speaking at a press conference, the deputy Minister of State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management, Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, said that the Islamic Emirate will pay 100,000 Afs for the families of those who were killed in the earthquake and 50,000 will be paid to families of those injured.
“Based on the order of the Prime Minister, it was decided to pay the family of each dead person 100,000 Afs and family of each wounded person 50,000 Afs,” he said.
He also called on the international community to help the Islamic Emirate to alleviate the challenges caused by the earthquake.
Muslim said that several teams from various government institutions had arrived in the area.
“We call on the international community as it is very difficult for every country to overcome such incidents alone by itself,” he said.
The fatal earthquake caused reactions by top Afghan politicians and Islamic Emirate officials.
The leader of the Islamic Emirate, Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the recent earthquake in the country.
In a statement released by the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujaid, Islamic Emirate leader Mawlawi Hebatullah called on the authorities and international aid agencies to help the relatives of the victims.
Former President Hamid Karzai, former HCNR chairman Abdullah Abdullah, and some other Afghan politicians expressed their condolences to the victims’ families.
Karzai on Twitter also called on the nation’s businesspeople and charity organizations to help the vulnerable families.
The earthquake hitting Khost and Paktia has been the deadliest in the past two decades.
Th UN deputy special envoy Alakbarov tweeted that UN OCHA and UNAMA are “assessing the needs” in the aftermath of last night’s earthquake. “Response is on its way,” he said.
