International News
Afghanistan Quake Could Affect ‘Hundreds Of Thousands’ — UN
The UN on Tuesday said the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that has killed more than 900 people could impact “hundreds of thousands”, and warned of an “exponential” rise in casualties.
“We think potentially the impacted individuals would go up to almost into the hundreds of thousands,” Indrika Ratwatte, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Kabul.
Already, more than 900 people are known to have been killed and thousands injured in the 6.0-magnitude earthquake, which hit remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan around midnight Sunday, followed by at least five aftershocks.
“The numbers are definitely going to increase,” Ratwatte said, adding there was “no question that the casualty rate is going to be rather exponential”.
The earthquake’s epicentre was about 27 kilometres (17 miles) from the city of Jalalabad, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), which said it struck around eight kilometres below the Earth’s surface.
Such relatively shallow quakes can cause more damage, especially since the majority of Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick homes vulnerable to collapse.
Ratwatte said homes in the affected region were largely “mud and wooden roof structures, so when the walls collapse the roof is what basically for the individuals kills them or suffocates them”.
“It’s a low (population) density, but since this happened in the night, everybody was sleeping so I think (the casualty figure) is going to be much higher.”
He added that the quake had set off “lots of landslides, rockfalls, etc., and access has been very limited. This has posed a huge challenge”.
“The biggest challenge is to reach these remote areas with the road access extremely damaged,” he said, stressing the need for helicopters to reach those in need, evacuate the injured and deploy search and rescue and medical teams.
After decades of conflict, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, facing a protracted humanitarian crisis and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back to the country by neighbours Pakistan and Iran in recent years.
Ratwatte urged countries to show solidarity with the people of Afghanistan “facing multiple crises, multiple shocks”.
He lamented that an appeal for $2.8 billion to provide desperately needed aid to Afghans this year was so far only 28-percent funded.
AFP
Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.
City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.
Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).
Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).
The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).
City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).
They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.
“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.
“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.
“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigerians interested in repatriation from South Africa will be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stated this during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The briefing came shortly after a closed-door meeting between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, and the South African Acting High Commissioner, Lesoli Machele.
Mr Ebienfa said the process will be self-funded and not state-funded, as it is a voluntary decision that the Nigerian government will only facilitate and coordinate.
In the recent past, such reparations have been sponsored by Nigerian airline owners, particularly Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace.
The Nigerian government, on Sunday, indicated its readiness to repatriate its citizens from South Africa due to xenophobic violence.
The effort primarily targets Nigerians who feel threatened by the xenophobic violence and tension in parts of South Africa, as the protests against black immigrants in the country continue. Two Nigerians were killed last month.
Since the announcement, about 130 Nigerians in South Africa have expressed a willingness to return home voluntarily.
Mr Ebienfa stated that the return of the Nigerians depends on their financial capacity, as they would be expected to fund their trip back home individually.
He said, “Those willing to leave are expected to approach the high commission and, given that their decision is voluntary, have the resources to fund their return to Nigeria.”
The government will not “provide an aircraft from Nigeria to convey them.”
He also noted that the speed of the repatriation process will be determined by the availability of funds.
“Yes, 130 as of this morning have registered, but actualisation would be required to have their flight ticket to move back to Nigeria.”
Mr Ebienfa also explained that Nigerians who have so far expressed interest are motivated either by concerns about threats to their lives or by fear of arrest by South African law enforcement agencies.
“There are two groups of Nigerians who want to come back. One group feels the country is not safe for them and wants to come. They have all their papers intact.
“Then there is also the second group that has travel document violations or resident permit violations. And instead of running away from law enforcement, they are appealing that the government facilitate their movement back to Nigeria,” he explained.
However, he noted that the process is still being worked out and that the government would step in to provide aircraft or other needed assistance if tensions rise and the situation becomes more volatile.
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