A convoy of truck carrying relief goods for Afghanistan’s earthquake hit areas, prepare to leave at a warehouse in Islamabad on Thursday. AFP

Gulf Today Report

The government of Pakistan, under the direction of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, has dispatched relief goods for those affected by the powerful earthquake that struck a remote border region of Afghanistan.

According to the Prime Minister Office, the consignment arranged by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) consists of family tents, tarpaulins, blankets and emergency medicines.

The government has assured all possible support to ameliorate the sufferings of the Afghan families affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake which hit parts of Afghanistan on Wednesday, read the statement.

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The earthquake has reportedly killed at least 1,000 people while injuring 1,500 more, officials said on Wednesday, with the toll expected to rise as desperate rescuers dig through the collapsed dwellings.

The Taliban government officials said houses were reduced to rubble and bodies swathed in blankets lay on the ground after the strong jolts. An unknown number of people remained stuck under rubble and in outlying areas, they added.

The earthquake has reportedly killed at least 1,000 people while injuring 1,500 more.

Shahbaz had earlier expressed his condolences on behalf of the country stating that “relevant authorities were working to support Afghanistan in this time of need.”

It was earlier reported that a convoy of trucks carrying relief assistance for the quake-hit population of Afghanistan will leave for Khost under the directives issued by the premier.

The convoy of eight trucks was loaded with relief goods arranged by NDMA, including 200 tents, 200 tarpaulins and 500 blankets, besides three trucks carrying life-saving drugs, and would use the Ghulam Khan Kalay Zang route.

The earthquake that jolted the region in the early hours of Wednesday also claimed the life of at least 30 Pakistani tribesmen, displaced from North Waziristan during a security operation, a footballer, and a soldier as it damaged a house in Lakki Marwat and a check-post in the Datakhel area.

Sources said the 30 victims belonged to the Madakhel tribe and were among the displaced persons who had shifted across the border to Afghanistan while Operation Zarb-e-Azb was underway in North Waziristan.

They said the bodies of the 30 tribesmen would be shifted to their native areas after the Pakistani authorities temporarily opened the Pak-Afghan border at Alwar Mandi.

Besides, arrangements have also been made at the Ghulam Khan border for the transportation of the injured who, according to military sources in Miramshah, would be airlifted to special medical camps being set up in the area.

Officials told Dawn News that besides shifting the bodies and helping with the treatment of injured, ration was also being provided to quake-hit people.

Separately, the tremor also resulted in the collapse of a check-post in the Datakhel tehsil, claiming the life of one soldier and leaving at least two others injured.

Also, officials said, a local footballer, Kashif Alam, died when the roof of his house in the Pezu area of Lakki Marwat district collapsed, burying him under the debris.