-KUNAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN — SEPT. 3, 2025: Rescue and relief operations entered third day on Wednesday, Sept. 3, after a devastating earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, leaving thousands of civilians homeless and entire villages in ruins. A Taliban official in Kunar province, speaking to Anadolu on condition of anonymity, said relief supplies began arriving last night in some remote areas as the administration initially planned to move people to safer areas. “Locals refused to leave because the bodies of their loved ones were still under the rubble. We then started distributing tents and other essential items,” the official said. Kunar province is the most affected region in eastern Afghanistan where over 1,400 people so far died. Official said the mountainous terrain and damaged roads have made it difficult to deliver aid but still rescue and relief teams arrived in all affected areas. “We are sending relief goods by vehicles where possible, but in areas cut off by the earthquake, helicopters are being used to transport supplies and evacuate the injured to hospitals,” said the official. Abdul Wahid, a local resident of Kunar province, said aftershocks still continue, spreading fear among the public. On Tuesday, a fresh 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan that was also felt in northwestern Pakistan. Humanitarian agencies warn that the scale of devastation requires urgent international support to prevent a worsening crisis. On Tuesday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Indrika Ratwatte said that the devastating earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan at a time of multiple crises for that country. “So, looking at the stats, looking at the remoteness and the topography, which is extremely challenging and remote, potentially the impacted individuals could go up to almost into the hundreds of thousands," Ratwatte said. Several nations, including neighboring Pakistan, Iran, China, and India, as well as Western nations, have pledged to send aid to Afghanistan. According to the interim-administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the worst-hit Kunar province alone reported 1,411 deaths, with 3,124 injured, while 5,412 houses were destroyed. The death toll could rise further when authorities share data from other three provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, and Panjshir. The US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 11.47 pm local time (1917GMT), located 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad at a depth of 8 km (5 mi) on Sunday night, when most of the residents were asleep. It is the third major earthquake to have hit a war-torn nation since the return of the Afghan Taliban to power in August 2021.