KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On April 24, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near Mehtar Lam, the provincial capital of Laghman, approximately 60 miles east of Kabul, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremor led to 18 deaths, injured at least 140 people, and damaged 676 houses in Nangarhar, Kunar, and Kabul provinces, according to USAID/OFDA partner IOM. The earthquake also caused widespread damage to mud- built homes in some affected villages, according to international media.
Since mid-April, flooding has affected several areas of Afghanistan, including Balkh, Faryab, Ghor, Helmand, Kandahar, Kunar, Sar-e Pul, and Uruzgan provinces. In late April, flash floods in the northern provinces of Balkh and Sar-e Pul resulted in 23 deaths and affected more than 2,800 families, according to relief agencies and media outlets.
In response to these events, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authorities (ANDMA) and Provincial Disaster Management Committees (PDMCs) are leading response and assessment efforts.
Attacks on non-governmental organization (NGO) humanitarian aid workers in the first quarter of 2013 have exceeded the number of incidents during the same period last year by 63 percent, reflecting an overall trend of increased violent attacks of all types, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office.