Afghans search remnants of damaged houses, after earthquakes at Nurgal district in Kunar province, in Eastern Afghanistan, on Sept. 4, 2025.-/AFP/Getty Images
The Canadian government is providing $3-million in humanitarian assistance to help people directly affected by recent earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan.
Randeep Sarai, the Secretary of State for International Development, made the announcement on Friday, saying the money will be allocated to organizations working within the country.
The World Food Programme will be given $1.3-million to scale up its response, which includes food supplies and logistical services, according to a statement announcing the funding.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, is being allocated $1-million.
Strong aftershock halts rescue efforts in Afghanistan as death toll from quake exceeds 1,400
As well, CARE Canada and Islamic Relief Canada will each receive $350,000 for vital assistance supports, including clean water and sanitation, emergency shelter, essential non-food items and health services. That money will be provided through the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund, which is managed by the non-profit Humanitarian Coalition.
Beyond the $3-million, Mr. Sarai announced that Canada will provide more than $36-million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in 2025 through the United Nations, Red Cross and other non-governmental organization partners.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and the widespread devastation caused by the earthquake in Afghanistan. My heart goes out to all those affected,” Mr. Sarai said in the statement. “Millions of people in the country were already facing a dire humanitarian crisis, and Canada’s additional support will help respond to their growing needs.”
Providing assistance to Afghanistan can be difficult as the country is governed by the Taliban, which is listed as a terrorist organization under Canada’s Criminal Code.
Canadian law prevents the government from providing funds to listed terrorist entities, but Ottawa can authorize exceptions for humanitarian assistance in territories controlled by terrorist organizations.
Shanti Cosentino, a spokesperson for Mr. Sarai, said earlier this week that Canada does not provide aid to the Taliban but in the past has worked through humanitarian organizations on the ground in Afghanistan.
The first earthquake this week hit on Sunday with a magnitude of 6, unleashing widespread damage and destruction in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar. A second quake of magnitude 5.5 occurred on Tuesday.
Two more powerful aftershocks later struck the same area about 12 hours apart. The first, on Thursday, had a magnitude of 6.2. Then Friday’s 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook the southeast at a depth of 10 kilometres, the German Research Centre for Geosciences said.
Survivors of an earthquake that hit Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern province of Kunar grappled with devastating loss after the disaster killed more than 1,400 people and crumbled thousands of homes.
Reuters
On Thursday, the Taliban administration estimated the quakes had caused 2,205 deaths and 3,640 injuries. Unicef estimated on Wednesday that nearly half a million people have been affected, with about half of them being children.
The earthquakes occurred in a remote and mountainous part of Afghanistan, making rescue and humanitarian efforts extremely difficult, aid workers told The Globe and Mail.
Samira Sayed Rahman, a Canadian who is a director for Save the Children International in Afghanistan, went to Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, and some of the most affected areas in Kunar.
There, she said she spoke to several women in the organization’s health facility who told her “the most horrific stories.”
“Every single woman had lost multiple children in the earthquake,” she said in an interview Thursday morning from Kabul. “The rest of their children are terrified, because every 20 minutes there was an aftershock that was occurring.”
Families are now sleeping outdoors in the open air, she said. They are afraid to go into any of the few remaining structures because of the frequency of aftershocks.
The earthquakes are just the latest chapter in the difficulties that Afghanistan is facing, which Ms. Sayed Rahman called “one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
More than two million Afghans have been returned from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to the United Nations. Ms. Sayed Rahman said this triggered an economic crisis in some communities – while others in the country are facing droughts or flash flooding.
Even before the returns, nearly 28 million people required urgent humanitarian assistance, she said.
“I feel helpless because we’re dealing with just crisis after crisis,” she said. “We have seen massive cuts to foreign assistance to Afghanistan this year. It means that our ability to respond when an emergency like this happens is limited.”
Ms. Sayed Rahman said that people will need long-term support, as many have lost their livelihoods.
“These are communities that rely on farming and livestock,” she said. “Nearly everyone I spoke to, all of their livestock had been killed in the earthquake.”
Daniel Timme, the chief of communication and advocacy for Unicef Afghanistan, said that the logistical challenges mean his health teams are carrying heavy loads on their shoulders, or using donkeys.
“When such a thing happens in Japan or in Turkey, you see professional rescue there immediately. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan, this is not so sophisticated,” he said. “Families [are] digging out their loved ones with bare hands.”
With reports from Reuters