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Paktika earthquake victims claim aid distribution process is unfair
Some of the victims of the recent earthquake in Paktika have said the aid distribution process is unfair and that only a limited amount of aid has reached the intended victims.
Some residents of Gayan district, whose houses were destroyed in the deadly earthquake last month, have called on the government to be transparent in the process.
“With this aid nothing can be done, because I want to rebuild one room which costs 100,000 Afghani but so far even 5,000 Afghanis have not been donated to us, you can’t build a room with 5,000 Afghani,” said Mohammad Hassain, a resident of Gayan district.
Another resident said that cash aid was only being given to victims with contacts.
“No one heard our voice, we visited many times, even today, cash aid came and they were registering it, but it was given only to those who had links, but while our houses were destroyed, no one gave us money,” said Omar Khan, another resident of the district.
A number of other residents of Gayan district say that the people of this district have suffered huge financial losses in addition to the human casualties and that help to rebuild houses is what is needed.
“Gayan district has a very narrow area, but the people who live here are many, and the government should distribute land to the people in Paktika or other provinces, and the high casualties are due to the large number of people in the small area,” said Zafar Khan, a resident of Gayan district.
“Currently, if people are not helped to rebuild their houses, our people do not have the economic capacity to rebuild their houses,” said Daoud Khan Haqmal, another resident of Gayan district.
Officials distributing aid in the area meanwhile acknowledge that there have been some problems but say in order to be transparent they are working with Imams from local mosques and tribal elders to distribute the aid.
“The process is transparent as much as possible, but there are some problems, for example, one or two houses in an area were destroyed and we could not handle it properly, but all the aid is distributed according to the arranged list, and nothing is given to anyone by links, it is given only to those which are listed through Mullah Imam or tribal elders,” said Sayed Hassan, who is responsible for distributing aid to the victims in Gayan district.
Government has said however that it is trying to provide basic assistance to the victims who need to rebuild their houses.
On June 21 a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit the Spera district in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. Over 1,000 people were killed and at least 3,000 more were injured while thousands of houses were destroyed across Paktika and Khost provinces.
The most affected districts were Gayan, Barmal, and Ziruk districts in Paktika province and Spera in Khost.
Pakistan on Friday summoned Afghan Deputy Head of Mission in Islamabad to convey “strong demarche” over a deadly attack on a military camp in North Waziristan District that killed four Pakistani soldiers.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack was carried out by a faction of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The statement said that Pakistan conveyed “grave concern over the continued support and facilitation” provided by the Islamic Emirate to TTP.
Pakistan has demanded “a full investigation and decisive action against the perpetrators and facilitators of the terrorist attacks launched against Pakistan from Afghan soil.”
It urged the Islamic Emirate “to take immediate, concrete and verifiable measures against all terror groups operating from its territory, including their leadership, and deny the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan.
According to the statement, the Islamic Emirate has been “categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to terrorism originating from Afghan soil.”
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that attacks in the country are originated from Afghan soil, a charge the Islamic Emirate denies.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has underscored Afghanistan’s continued importance in regional cooperation, saying the country remains one of the key areas of interaction among regional partners.
Addressing the first summit of the “Central Asia Plus Japan” dialogue, Mirziyoyev said participating countries share a common aspiration to see Afghanistan become peaceful, stable, and oriented toward meaningful development.
The Uzbek president praised Japan’s longstanding and consistent support for Afghanistan, noting that Tokyo has for many years been among the leading donors and partners assisting the Afghan people.
He expressed confidence that coordinated efforts and joint contributions by regional countries and Japan would help improve living standards in Afghanistan, advance socio-economic and infrastructure development, and facilitate the country’s active involvement in regional economic projects.
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
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