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KABUL: A third earthquake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, has struck eastern Afghanistan, less than a week after a powerful quake in the same region killed more than 2,200 people and injured thousands of others. 

At least 3,640 people were injured in the first quake, of magnitude 6, which hit the densely populated rural areas of Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman provinces on Sunday, and a subsequent magnitude 5.5 quake on Tuesday, according to official reports. 

The real toll is feared to be higher, with rescue efforts ongoing in the steep terrain hindered by landslides and rockfalls damaging already poor roads. 

The latest tremor, at a depth of 10 km, occurred late on Thursday and was followed by a series of aftershocks on Friday morning, one of which measured 5.4, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences. 

“An aftershock occurs every 30 minutes. People are extremely frightened. Every time there’s an aftershock, we hear women and girls screaming. They fear the same devastation they witnessed during the first earthquake,” said Abdul Fatah Jawad, director of the Ehsas Welfare and Social Services Organization, who was with a team delivering aid to survivors in Kunar.  

“The psychological shock and trauma are severe. The tremors are extremely strong.” 

At least 37 people were hospitalized after Thursday’s quake, local media reported. As most families are still sheltering in open areas and tents, there were smaller casualties from the most recent quake, Jawad said. 

“Needs are huge following the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan affecting over 1.3 million people,” Jagan Chapagain, secretary-general and CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement. 

“This earthquake could not have come at a worse time. The disaster not only brings immediate suffering but also deepens Afghanistan’s already fragile humanitarian crisis.” 

The initial quake had destroyed entire villages in the Ketak Valley of Noorgal district, where most of the casualties have been reported, said Dr. Rahmatullah Zahid, who was flown into the region from Nangarhar to help survivors. 

“People have lost their homes and all their belongings. They are in urgent need of shelter, as the current number of tents is insufficient. They also require clothing and essential household items for cooking, along with raw food supplies. These are immediate needs, and substantial long-term support will also be necessary,” he told Arab News. 

“On average, five to six people from each family died in the Aug. 31 earthquake. We spoke with one survivor who lost all of his family members, and another who lost 14 relatives. There wasn’t a single family untouched by casualties. The scale of this tragedy is immense.”

LONDON: The UK government is failing people in Gaza by continuing to allow parts manufactured for the F-35 jet program be used by the Israeli military, a British surgeon has said.

Prof. Nick Maynard of Oxford University told a two-day tribunal in London that he had seen first-hand the damage done by Israel in Gaza, especially to hospitals, and that the UK’s inaction on stopping the supply of parts amounts to complicity in attacks on innocent civilians.

“I’ve been in these hospitals, I’ve had unlimited access to every square inch of these hospitals and it is inconceivable to me that they are being used as Hamas command centers,” he said.

“This propaganda has been repeated by our media, been repeated by our government, yet there is no verifiable, remotely credible evidence to support these contentions.”

The tribunal — chaired by Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the governing Labour Party — is examining allegations of genocide, war crimes, and the UK’s involvement in atrocities committed in Gaza.

Corbyn opened the tribunal saying: “The truth needs to be told and information needs to be provided, and if Parliament won’t effectively inquire into what is going on, then the tribunal might be able to do so.”

Maynard said he had provided evidence to the UK government of deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure by Israel, and how bullet-wound patterns in children and teenagers brought to hospitals suggested they were being targeted.

“This daily clustering of injuries to particular body parts was beyond coincidence … It was clear evidence of target practice by Israeli soldiers on these young teenage boys,” he added.

The tribunal also heard testimony from Dr. Victoria Rose, a consultant plastic surgeon at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London.

Rose, who has worked extensively treating people in Gaza, told the tribunal that she had been forced to operate on children less than 10 years old without anesthetic, and that Israel was blocking access to the enclave for up to 90 percent of medics, as well as confiscating supplies from those given approval to enter.

She said patients she had operated on included an 18-month-old with 15 percent burns across her body, and a 5-year-old who had her leg blown off.

Rose noted that food in the enclave was scarce, and that she had lost half a stone in less than a month while working there.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, said UK government officials could be held responsible for failing to help end the occupation of Palestine by maintaining trade links, intelligence sharing and arms exports to Israel.

In June, the High Court in London ruled that the continued export of parts for the F-35 to Israel was lawful.

UK manufacturers are responsible for around 15 percent of parts that go into the elite jet fighter.