Hours after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 500, India reached out to the Taliban regime and sent relief material including food and medicines.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called up Taliban-led Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and conveyed condolences. Their conversation came weeks after the Taliban leader visited India in early October.
“Called FM Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi of Afghanistan this afternoon to convey condolences at the loss of lives in the earthquake that struck Balkh, Samangan and Baghlan provinces,” Jaishankar posted on X. “Indian relief material for the earthquake impacted communities is being handed over today. Further supplies of medicines to reach soon,” he said.
He also said that he discussed the progress in the bilateral relationship. “Welcomed the improving people-to-people contacts between India and Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said, adding that he “appreciated the exchange of views on the regional situation”.
“Reaffirming its support to the Afghan people, India delivers food items for the families affected by the earthquake,” the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, with the hashtag #Indiafirstresponder.
Sources said that 15 tonnes of food, comprising around 50 packets, were sent. Each packet contains 100 kgs of wheat flour, 50 kgs of rice, 30 litres of cooking oil, 28 kgs each of sugar and salt, 14 kgs each of lentils, beans and peas, 4 kgs of tea, 30 pieces of soap and four litres of dishwasher soap.
The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was located 22 kilometres west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and that it struck at 12:59 am at a depth of 28 kilometres.
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Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said 534 injured people and 20 bodies had been brought to hospitals in Balkh and Samangan provinces. Rescuers were on the scene and the figures were changing, he added.
In the nearby province of Badakhshan, the quake partially or completely destroyed 800 houses in one village in Shahr-e-Bozorg district, said Ihsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the provincial police headquarters. But with no internet in the remote area, there were still no accurate casualty figures, he added.
In the Afghan capital of Kabul, the Ministry of Defence announced that rescue and emergency teams had reached Balkh and Samangan, which suffered the most damage, and were transporting the injured and assisting others.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, posted on X that the earthquake caused casualties and financial loss. He said government organisations were working to get the needed help.
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Meanwhile, in a series of posts on X on Sunday, a Taliban spokesperson said: “The government of India has extended a significant gesture of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan by gifting over 16 tonnes of anti-vector-borne disease medicines and diagnostic kits to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). This donation is part of India’s continued commitment to supporting the health sector in Afghanistan and strengthening bilateral cooperation in public health and disease prevention. The medicines and diagnostic kits will directly support Afghanistan’s National Malaria and Other Vector-Borne Diseases Prevention Programme.”
“The supplies are aimed at enhancing the country’s capacity to combat diseases such as malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis, which continue to pose serious public health challenges across several regions of Afghanistan. The leadership of the Ministry of Public Health expressed deep appreciation to the Government of India for its timely and valuable assistance. The Ministry noted that these medicines and diagnostic kits represent a crucial step toward improving public health infrastructure and ensuring effective disease control, especially in vulnerable and high-risk communities,” the spokesperson said.
“This latest donation underscores India’s longstanding partnership and developmental support to Afghanistan. By contributing essential medical supplies, India reaffirms its role as a reliable partner in promoting health, stability, and humanitarian cooperation in the region,” the spokesperson said.
— With agency inputs from Afghanistan
