Quake-displaced families in Farah seek emergency aid

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): Hundreds of families that fled from western Herat province to Farah following recent earthquakes have sought emergency assistance, officials said on Monday.

Provincial authorities said they did not have the facilities required to deal with the new wave of internally displace people (IDPs) from  Herat.

Mufti Ahmad, head of IDP affairs at the Refugee and Repatriation Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “After the earthquake in Herat, hundreds of families have fled to Farah. So far, 593 families have approached the IDP affairs office for assistance.”

The number of Farah IDPs may increase because of the yesterday’s fresh jolts of the earthquake in Herat province.

The issue has been with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) in Kabul.

These IDPs had arrived in different parts of the province, whose residents had shared houses, Ahmad added.

But Director of Information and Culture Maulvi Abdul Hai Sabawoon suggested thousands of families recently migrated from fled Herat to Farah.

“However, we don’t have exact figures for such families, as most of them are staying in houses of relatives. The number of these households may be in thousands.”

The families were in dire need of basic necessities, he acknowledged, saying provincial officials and other relevant agencies were trying to support the IDPs.

The IDPs asked the government and humanitarian organisations for delivering aid to the quake-displace people as soon as possible,

Dr. Abdul Hameed Raufi, one of the IDPs who migrated to Farah from Herat, is currently living in the first district of this city.

Raufi said his family urgently needed food and clothing. He asked the government and other humanitarian institutions to provide them assistance immediately.

Herat was struck by a devastating earthquake on October 7, leaving thousands of people dead and wounded.

The quake, followed by several aftershocks, also jolted some neighbouring provinces and frightened many residents out of their homes.

On Sunday, Herat was rattled by another strong earthquake which killed at least two people and injured 160 others.

aw/mud

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