Following a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan that claimed over 1,400 lives and destroyed at least 5,400 homes, the Uzbek border city of Termez is emerging as a key logistics hub for international humanitarian aid, with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) preparing relief supplies to support the affected communities.
The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday it was drawing on its resources within Afghanistan and in the region after a 6.0 magnitude quake struck near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday, The Caspian Post reports, citing The Times of Central Asia.
It said health services in Afghanistan are “overwhelmed” and that the lack of basic infrastructure in hard-hit areas was complicating rescue efforts.
“UNHCR is deploying prepositioned essential relief items from stockpiles in Kabul, including tents, blankets and solar lamps,” the agency said. “We are also assessing our emergency stockpiles in the region, including in Termez, Uzbekistan, to meet further needs.”
Uzbekistan expressed condolences to Afghanistan and said it was ready to help.
“We stand in solidarity with the brotherly people of Afghanistan during this difficult time and reaffirm our readiness to provide all possible assistance in overcoming the consequences of this tragic natural disaster,” Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov said.
After several earthquakes hit the Herat area in western Afghanistan in 2023, UNHCR sent tents and other essential items to affected families from the agency’s warehouse in Termez in an effort coordinated with the Uzbek government. The British Red Cross said more than 2,000 people died in the Herat quakes.
Termez, which is about 575 kilometers by road from Jalalabad, lies on the Amu Darya River that separates Uzbekistan from Afghanistan. Soviet forces deployed in the city during the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and NATO-led forces also used it as a logistics hub during efforts to help the Afghan government establish security after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Hamdullah Fitrat, a Taliban spokesman, said on X on Tuesday that the death toll from the Jalalabad area quake had risen to 1,411, and that at least 3,124 people had been injured and 5,412 houses were destroyed.
“Rescue operations continue across all affected areas today. In locations where helicopters could not land, dozens of commando forces were air-dropped to pull the injured from the rubble and move them to safer ground,” he said. The spokesman also said that “several countries have announced assistance, part of which has already been delivered to emergency relief committees for distribution to earthquake victims.”
Britain, India, and China are among a number of countries that have pledged or offered aid to Afghanistan to help it cope with the disaster. Besides Uzbekistan, other Central Asian countries have sent aid to Afghanistan after past deadly quakes there.
