Afghanistan to rebuild 2,200 houses in quake-hit areas

Kabul: The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan said it will rebuild 2,200 houses which were partially or fully damaged in the devastating June 22 earthquake which affected the provinces of Paktika and Khost.

In a statement, Mawlawi Sharafudin Muslim, deputy minister of state for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, said the initiative is being supported by the UN Refugee Agency, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 6.2 earthquake, which was the deadliest in Afghanistan since 1998, killed at least 1,163 people and injured more than 6,000 others.

The massive temblor was felt over 500 km away by at least 119 million people, including in Pakistan and in parts of India and Iran.

Gayan and Barmal districts of Paktika were the most affected, with at least 238 and 500 deaths, respectively.

In Gayan, 70 per cent of the district’s houses were destroyed.

Three days later, an aftershock measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale killed five persons in Gayan.