An earthquake rocked western Afghanistan on Monday, killing more than 26 people and destroying hundreds of homes, local authorities said.
The 5.6 magnitude tremor shook the western province of Badghis, bordering Turkmenistan, in the afternoon, reducing brick homes to rubble, according to photos shared by local authorities.
"Unfortunately, our initial reports show that 22 people, including women and children, have been killed and four others injured," said Baz Mohammad Sarwari, the director of Information and Culture of the Badghis provincial administration.
"The Mujahideen have reached to some of the affected areas, but Badghis is a mountainous province, the number of casualties might go up," he added, referring to Taliban fighters, and adding that heavy rain was also lashing the area.
Mullah Janan Saeqe, head of the Emergency Operations Centre of the Ministry of State for Emergency Affairs, confirmed the death toll and said more than 700 houses had been damaged.
Sanullah Sabit, the head of the nursing unit at the main hospital in Badghis' capital said they had received five patients injured in the quake, mostly with broken bones and fractures.
The quake was at a depth of 30 km (18.64 miles), according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological CentreAt least 12 people were killed after an earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Monday, an official said.The victims died when roofs of their residential houses collapsed in Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, district governor Mohammad Saleh Purdel told AFP.
"Several people were also injured in today's earthquake," Purdel said, adding that the victims included women and children.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
Earthquakes can cause significant damage to poorly built homes and buildings in impoverished Afghanistan.