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Haiti quake survivors cry for help as death toll nears 2,000

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(Last Updated On: August 18, 2021)

Survivors of the earthquake that killed at least 1,941 people in Haiti clamored for food, shelter and medical care on Tuesday as search and rescue efforts resumed after a tropical storm lashed the Caribbean nation with rain, causing dangerous flooding.

Quake damage to several major hospitals hampered humanitarian efforts, and doctors in makeshift tents outside battled to save the lives of the many injured, including young children and the elderly. But they could not help them all, Reuters reported. 

“There weren’t enough doctors and now she’s dead,” said Lanette Nuel, sitting listlessly next to her daughter’s body outside the main hospital of Les Cayes, one of the towns worst hit by both the tremor and the storm’s heavy rains and winds.

The 26-year-old deceased woman, herself a mother of two, had been crushed by debris during the magnitude 7.2 quake. Now she lay under a white sheet on the floor.

“We came in yesterday afternoon, she died this morning. I can’t do anything,” her mother said.

Saturday’s quake knocked down tens of thousands of buildings in the poorest country in the Americas, which is still recovering from a temblor 11 years ago that killed over 200,000 people. Aside from the dead, the latest quake also injured at least 9,915, with many people still missing or under the rubble, the civil protection service said on Tuesday afternoon, Reuters reported. 

Relief efforts were already complicated due to political turmoil and difficult road access from the capital to the south due to gang control of key points. Flash flooding and landslides in the wake of Tropical Storm Grace, which by Tuesday afternoon had continued on past Jamaica, exacerbated the situation.

“Countless Haitian families who have lost everything due to the earthquake are now living literally with their feet in the water due to the flooding,” said Bruno Maes, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in the country.

“Right now, about half a million Haitian children have limited or no access to shelter, safe water, healthcare and nutrition.”

The United Nations said it had allocated $8 million in emergency funds to provide relief for affected people, Reuters reported. 

Latin America countries including Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Colombia and the neighboring Dominican Republic sent food, medicine and supplies. The United States also dispatched supplies and search and rescue teams.

Although criminal gangs have been blocking access roads for months, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs said “successful negotiations” had made it possible for a convoy to reach Les Cayes.

The hospital in Les Cayes, about 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, was even more overwhelmed on Tuesday than before as patients who had been camping outside moved indoors to escape the tropical storm.

Director Peterson Gede said medics were doing the best they could. “We couldn’t handle all the patients,” he said. “And we have been receiving supplies, but it’s not enough.”

At a tent city in Les Cayes containing many children and babies, over a hundred people scrambled to repair makeshift coverings made of wooden poles and tarps that were destroyed by Grace overnight. Some took cover under plastic sheets.

Mathieu Jameson, deputy head of the committee formed by the tent city residents, said hundreds of people there were in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care.

“We don’t have a doctor. We don’t have food. Every morning more people are arriving. We have no bathroom, no place to sleep. We need food, we need more umbrellas,” said Jameson, adding the tent city was still waiting for government aid.

Haiti’s latest natural disaster comes just over a month after the country was plunged into political turmoil by the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday it was too early to gauge the impact of the quake on Haiti’s political process and that the United States, the country’s main donor, had no current plans to deploy its military there.

Rescue workers have been digging alongside residents through the rubble in a bid to reach survivors. 

On Tuesday morning 16 people were recovered alive alongside nine dead, Haitian civil protection authorities said.

But hopes were fading, and a smell of dust and decomposing bodies permeated the air, Reuters reported. 

“We came from all over to help: from the north, from Port-au Prince, from everywhere,” said Maria Fleurant, a firefighter from northern Haiti.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was sworn in less then a month ago after Moise’s assassination, vowed to disburse humanitarian aid better than in the wake of the 2010 quake.

Though billions of dollars in aid poured into Haiti after that quake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016, many Haitians say they saw scant benefits from the uncoordinated efforts: government bodies remained weak, amid persistent shortages of food and basic goods.

“The earthquake is a great misfortune that happens to us in the middle of the hurricane season,” Henry told reporters. He said the government would not repeat “the same things” done in 2010.

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Justice in light of Sharia applies equally to everyone: Deputy PM

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(Last Updated On: May 8, 2024)

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister, said Wednesday in a meeting with a number of elders, scholars and youths of the Hazara ethnic group in Kabul that justice in light of Islamic Sharia is applied equally to everyone.

The deputy PM’s office said in a statement that Kabir stressed that discrimination and prejudice have no place in the Islamic system, but the main goal is to serve the people.

“There is no place for ethnic, sectarian and linguistic prejudices and hypocrisy in Afghanistan. All Afghans should work together for the construction, development and prosperity of Afghanistan,” the statement read.

At the gathering, elders and scholars of the Hazara community demanded resolutions regarding their legal cases and other problems and assured the IEA of comprehensive cooperation with the Islamic system, the statement added.

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IED explosion in Badakhshan leaves 8 dead and wounded

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(Last Updated On: May 8, 2024)

Eight security force members were killed and wounded in an IED explosion in Badakhshan province on Wednesday morning, officials confirmed.

The Ministry of Interior said three policemen died and five others were wounded in the explosion.

Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, said: “Unfortunately, at around 11:00 AM today, a sticky mine (magnetic IED) that was already embedded in a motorcycle exploded in the Jawozon area of Faizabad city, Badakhshan province.”

According to Qani the device detonated while a convoy of police was traveling through the area. Police had been carrying out a poppy clearing operation.

Police are investigating the incident, Qani said.

So far, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

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Khurasan beats Istaqlal 1-0 in ACL; Sorkh Poshan thrash Sarsabz Yashlar 4-1

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(Last Updated On: May 8, 2024)

Khurasan Faryab defeated Istiqlal Kabul 1-0 in the 35th match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Tuesday, while Sorkh Poshan Khafi thrashed Sarsabz Yashlar 4-1 in the 36th match of the tournament on the same day.

Khurasan’s only goal against Istiqlal Kabul was scored by Farid Ahmad – who was declared man of the match.

In the second match of the day, Sorkh Poshan Khafi’s four goals were scored by Habibullah Hotak and Omid Rajabi.

Khurasan’s Habibullah Hotak received the man of the match award.

Wednesday’s matches will see Abu Muslim Farah FC take on Adalat Farah FC at 1 PM, while Maiwand FC will play Jawanan Wahedi FC at 3:30 PM.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.

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