Countries rush to Afghanistan's aid

Various sides including China are extending support to Afghanistan's earthquake victims apart from condolences, as the death toll in western Afghanistan's Herat and neighboring provinces rose to 2,445 by Sunday night, local authorities said.

The Red Cross Society of China said on Sunday it had decided to provide the Afghan Red Crescent with $200,000 in cash as emergency humanitarian assistance to aid its rescue and disaster relief efforts.

The Chinese International Development Cooperation Agency said it is willing to provide emergency humanitarian assistance based on the needs of the affected.

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority has already put out a search and rescue team on standby to assist the Afghan government in taking people out of the rubble. It is also going to send relief items, including food, medicine, tents and blankets.

"It is very important now for the international community to step in and help Afghan people," said Amina Khan, director of the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.

"So far, neighboring countries have been at the forefront. Pakistan and Iran have offered to send Afghanistan humanitarian aid and China's Red Cross Society, I believe, has also offered not only cash relief, but other aid as well."

The most affected area is the Zanda Jan district in Herat, where 13 villages have been "utterly destroyed", Mawlawi Musa Ashari, Herat's provincial director for the National Disaster Management Authority, told reporters.

In a statement, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha offered his sincere condolences to Afghanistan over the devastating earthquake. He affirmed the OIC stands in full support of and solidarity with Afghanistan and its people in this trying moment.

Qatar expressed its solidarity with the Afghan people on Sunday. "Qatar stands with the victims of the earthquake and is fully prepared to provide necessary assistance for recovery," the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Two magnitude-6.2 earthquakes jolted Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, China Earthquake Networks Center said, resulting in huge casualties and property losses.

So far, the Taliban has been very quick to respond, said Khan from Pakistan. Afghan local governance structures under the Taliban have been trying in their limited capacities to help the civilians as there have been sanctions placed on the Taliban, she added.

"There are limitations when the entire economy has been dependent on the international community," she said. "It is important not to forget that it is the common people in Afghanistan that are suffering and the focus has to be on the humanitarian aspect here."

Khan mentioned that some countries should step away from using the aid as a political tool when it comes to natural disasters such as this earthquake, and therefore they should extend their hand and help those people in need.

Xinhua contributed to this story.