Manitoba·NewAfghans living in Winnipeg are calling on governments and citizens around the world to support Afghanistan in whatever way they can after a devastating earthquake on Sunday left hundreds dead and thousands injured.6.0 magnitude quake hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, killing and injuring thousands Dave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Sep 02, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes agoAbdul Farid Ahmad of Winnipeg escaped from Afghanistan in February 2022, and says he’s been receiving information and images from the country about the devastation after an earthquake on Sunday. (Ian Froese/CBC)Afghans living in Winnipeg are calling on governments and citizens around the world to support Afghanistan in whatever way they can after a devastating earthquake on Sunday left hundreds dead and thousands injured.”I call on the Canadian government and all humanitarian organizations, and all the people to stand with the people of Afghanistan, especially in this difficult moment,” Abdul Farid Ahmad of Winnipeg said. “Even a small contribution can save lives.”Ahmad escaped from Afghanistan in February 2022, after the U.S. withdrew all remaining troops, and the Taliban took back control of the country. He said he’s maintained several friendships in the country, and has been hearing from people back home about the scope of the death and devastation caused by an earthquake that hit Sunday night. Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in the dead of night to search for missing loved ones after an earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, hit in eastern Afghanistan late Sunday around 11:47 p.m. local time.The quake hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad, and in the neighbouring Nangarhar province, causing extensive destruction. Footage shows rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters, as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.A village damaged by an earthquake that killed many people and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan is seen in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar) (Wahidullah Kakar/The Associated Press)Ahmad said the information and the images he has been sent from Afghanistan has been devastating. Most homes located near the quake have been destroyed, he says, and many households are now dealing with multiple fatalities under one roof. “There’s still a lot of people under rubble or under the ground, so there’s a possibility that will raise the number of victims,” he said. He said one friend told him that his neighbour lost a total of 11 family members who were all living in the same house, and was the only one in the house to survive, while he said almost every home in the area has seen people inside killed or injured.Adding to the horror, according to Ahmad, is the fact that the area where the quake hit is very remote, and does not have the services or infrastructure to deal with tragedy on this scale. “It’s a big tragedy, and people in Afghanistan don’t have access to the basic rights, especially with the current government, so it’s very hard for them to deal with such kinds of incidents,” he said. “People don’t have access to basic things like health services, food, shelter, and don’t have access to roads to travel.”He said he also knows that if humanitarian workers are women, the Taliban will not allow them to simply be out helping people in the area. “The humanitarian groups cannot go to Afghanistan, because most of their staff are women, so it’s hard to find people that Taliban likes and send them to the area,” he said. “They would not allow women. Women are not allowed to leave the house without being escorted from a man.”Winnipeggers Ariana Yaftali, who is originally from Afghanistan and who came to Winnipeg in 2001, is one of the founders of the Afghan-Canadian Women’s Organizations, a not-for-profit that supports Afghan women and their families to settle in Canada.She said she’s been following the news since the earthquake hit, and hearing from friends in Afghanistan that some villages are now in total ruins, with collapsed buildings, and with thousands dead or injured. Winnipegger Ariana Yaftali, who is originally from Afghanistan, says she has been following news and receiving messages from Afghans. (Ian Froese/CBC)She is also concerned about a lack of services in the area to deal with the tragedy. “They are saying they need doctors, they need nurses, they need humanitarian aid, food, shelter, and they need people to help take people who have been struck in the rubble to get them out,” Yaftali said. But she hopes that those looking to help, including governments and humanitarian groups, get aid into the right hands. She said she doesn’t want to see it going directly to the Taliban, because she doesn’t trust that it would go to the people who need it most.”We want those agencies actually involved in humanitarian aid such as the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies to take this aid to give to these impacted people, not to the Taliban,” she said. WATCH | ‘Our teams are really struggling,’ says CARE spokesperson on Afghanistan earthquake aid:’Our teams are really struggling,’ says CARE spokesperson on Afghanistan earthquake aid A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck remote areas of eastern Afghanistan overnight, reportedly killing at least 800 people and wiping out villages. CARE spokesperson Deepmala Mahla speaks on the challenges aid workers are facing.According to reports, Sunday night’s quake was so powerful it was felt in parts of Pakistan, including the capital of Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage in Pakistan.Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts.”This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on the social media platform X. “Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.”Global Affairs Canada said on Monday that the government was already supporting humanitarian aid efforts in Afghanistan with organizations like the UN’s World Food Program but that it stands ready to do more as agencies pivot to focus on the immediate needs in the wake of the earthquake.ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Ian Froese, CBC News
Winnipeg’s Afghan community reeling after deadly earthquake
