Quake-affected Afghan families receive assistance

Afghan Red Crescent Society has provided humanitarian aid to quake-affected families in the eastern Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman provinces, an official said on Thursday.

"We have distributed humanitarian assistance to 180 families in Nangarhar since Wednesday," Afghan Red Crescent Society spokesperson Mehram Sadaqat told Xinhua news agency.

He said 80 families received non-food assistance in Rodad and Behsoud districts on Wednesday and 100 more families would receive non-food items including blankets, tents, plastic jars and kitchen items on Thursday.

Some 50 quake-affected families have received assistance in the neighboUring Kunar and 60 others in Laghman provinces over the past two days, the official asserted.

In the 7.5 magnitude quake, which struck parts of Afghanistan on Monday, 115 people have been confirmed dead, 556 injured and 7,630 residential houses destroyed in nine out of the country's 34 provinces.

Sadaqat said the process of providing humanitarian assistance to the quake-hit areas in Badakhshan province started on Wednesday and so far 160 families in different districts except Jarm have benefited.

Since parts of Jarm district are in control of Taliban militants, only few people have visited the area, although Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told media that the armed outfit leadership ordered the fighters to refrain from attacking anyone who wants to assist the victims of the earthquake elsewhere in Afghanistan.