US Religious Organisation Warns Against Deporting Afghan Christian Refugees

Doctors told Afghanistan International that psychological stress and fear triggered by the quakes are disrupting women’s hormonal systems, causing a reduction in breast milk production. They said mothers need urgent psychological as well as physical support.

“In the past few days, many mothers have come to the clinic saying their milk has dried up,” a female doctor in Kunar said. “This is natural because fear and stress change women’s hormones.”

She added that clinics face severe shortages of equipment and staff. “We have very limited facilities. There are no programmes for psychological support. We have no female psychologists, only a few midwives and nurses. This is a major challenge for us.”

Medical sources said some districts in Kunar have very few female doctors and almost no female psychologists to help traumatised women.

A psychologist, using the pseudonym Mohammad, warned that the lack of mental health support poses serious risks to the lives of women and children. He urged international aid groups and health organisations to launch programmes providing psychological assistance.

Residents of Kunar said the earthquake destroyed homes and left deep psychological scars. They appealed to the Taliban and international organisations to provide targeted medical and mental health support for survivors to protect mothers and children.

The earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan have killed 2,205 people and injured more than 3,640, according to Taliban figures.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates that nearly 84,000 people in Afghanistan have been directly or indirectly affected by the disaster.

The organisation reported that 98 percent of homes in quake-hit areas were either completely destroyed or severely damaged.

Taliban officials said the quake in Kunar province has killed 2,205 people and injured more than 3,640.

The Red Cross and the Afghan Red Crescent described the humanitarian situation in the affected areas as “extremely fragile and deteriorating,” warning of severe shortages of food, medicine and shelter.

Indrika Ratwatte, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, told Agence France-Presse the earthquake could affect hundreds of thousands of people.

Local rescue workers, operating with limited resources, are still trying to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed homes, reports said. Landslides, rockfalls and blocked roads have left many villages cut off.

Alongside widespread destruction, poor weather and declining international aid are making the emergency response even harder.

Aid groups and humanitarian experts said the disaster should serve as a wake-up call to the international community.

An official from the Norwegian Refugee Council said Afghanistan cannot face such a catastrophe alone and urged the world to provide broad and sustained support.

The quake killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed thousands of homes in border provinces. Many of the hardest-hit villages were home to families recently returned from Pakistan.

The UN Refugee Agency said continued deportations would further weaken Afghans’ ability to respond to the crisis. It urged Pakistan to pause removals out of humanitarian concern.

According to official figures, more than 1.2 million Afghans have been deported from Pakistan since 2023. So far this year alone, more than 443,000 have been forced to return.

The agency warned that without immediate financial support, its ability to deliver critical health services and emergency aid will be severely limited.

The WHO said the requested funds would be used to provide essential medical care, expand mobile health teams and support water, sanitation and hygiene services in quake-hit areas.

The Taliban said the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 2,205.

Deputy Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said rescue teams have recovered hundreds of bodies from the rubble in the districts of Chawkay, Dewagal Dara, Chapa Dara and Manogai. Search and rescue efforts remain under way, he said, adding that tents have been set up for survivors and the delivery of emergency aid is continuing “in an organised manner.”

On Wednesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the death toll had reached 1,457, with 3,394 injured, three days after the quake struck. He also said 6,782 homes were destroyed.

Mujahid said rescue operations were ongoing in Kunar to recover victims’ bodies and that the wounded were being airlifted to hospitals by helicopter.