KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — People had just seconds to flee their homes when the terrifying sound of earth cracking open reverberated across western Afghanistan's Herat province.
Nobody knows for sure how many people died in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023, or in the strong aftershocks that followed. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished. The U.N. gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. Survivors stopped counting, exhausted after digging through dirt to save their loved ones or bury them.
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New houses are seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Damaged classroom is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New houses are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New buildings of a school are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan workers work to rebuild the house for survivors in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 after it was destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan workers work to rebuild a house in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors gather around a water tanker to get potable waterin Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors gather around a water tanker to get potable in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivor, makes a mud home in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors, makes a mud home is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors are stand in front of their new house is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New houses are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
A general view of damaged houses in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.
It was also another major challenge for the Taliban since they seized power in 2021, a test of their readiness to lead a country beset by economic hardship, isolation, devastation from decades of war, and vulnerability to shocks like earthquakes and climate change.
“At that time, the government really cooperated in transporting patients and the dead,” said Ismatullah Rahmani, from the quake’s epicenter in Zinda Jan district, where every home, usually built of mud and timber, was levelled. His brother and nephew were killed, and he spent hours trying to free his wife from under 1 1/2-meter (60 inches) of soil. She survived.
“They opened hospitals and provided water and food to people for free,” he told The Associated Press from his new home in Zinda Jan. He said the Taliban went to camps and helped survivors over several months, a blessing ahead of the harsh Herat winter.
“After that, our aid stopped,” said Rahmani.
Charities had stepped in to build housing for survivors. But the accommodation they built lacks walls so there is no privacy, while the poor design leaves them vulnerable to storms or heavy rainfall. Houses either have no bathrooms or the bathrooms don’t have a roof.
Rahmani's village, Naib Rafi, still doesn’t have a health clinic or a school. Instead, children are learning in tents.
The government didn’t provide financial assistance, he said. Senior officials and Islamic scholars visited communities a few times, listened to people’s problems and left.
Ahmadullah Muttaqi, spokesman and member of the Herat Earthquake Commission, said authorities worked with charities and nongovernmental groups to provide shelter and medical assistance.
“People’s problems haven’t been solved, of course, but the first necessity is building houses until they stand on their own feet. They have been given food and hospitals are still working,” he told AP. He said they were still working to rebuild mosques, schools, madrassas and parks.
He did not answer questions about authorities' preparedness for future disasters.
Afghans were already struggling with displacement, food insecurity and poverty before the quake struck, and the tragedy put further pressure on public services. Aid agencies, which have been propping up Afghan health care and education for the past three years under the Taliban, became even more thinly stretched.
The International Rescue Committee set up feeding corners after the earthquake so mothers could safely breastfeed children and get nutrition counselling. The relief agency said it also fixed water systems, provided emergency cash, hygiene kits, medical and mental health support to tens of thousands of people.
But, with other global crises raging, such support is finite.
International funding for Afghanistan has received less than a third of its target. Changing political priorities, economic troubles and wars are hitting donors’ pockets, especially those in the West.
Widespread opposition to the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women and girls is also having an effect.
“There is donor fatigue, for sure, but perhaps the bigger problem is a nervousness from many donors about supporting anything but the most urgent life-saving aid,” said Mark Calder from World Vision International.
The U.N. says international recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan is nearly impossible while restrictions remain on female education and employment.
The Taliban reject this position, demanding Afghanistan’s seat at the U.N. and saying that sanctions and the country's continued isolation are hurting people.
Investment in quality development assistance would benefit Afghan women and girls disproportionately and it’s sometimes in their name that a reduction in aid to Afghanistan is promoted, said Calder.
“It’s difficult to imagine that Afghan communities are much better prepared for natural disasters than they were a year ago,” he added.
Herat authorities have been unable to fully meet humanitarian needs, while damaged infrastructure has hampered recovery efforts. A near-total reliance on aid organisations for basics like health care and shelter has left people exposed.
Four of Gul Ahmad Osmani’s children died in the disaster. He heard boys screaming under the soil in his village. It was impossible to pull them out, he said.
He and his surviving family members spent the winter in a tent. “The government took care of us, keeping my wife and children in a camp, but we didn’t see anything from the government that was specifically from them, like flour, cooking oil or rice,” Osmani said. “Our own people, the people of Afghanistan, brought food for several days.”
The helping hands came from other cities, districts and provinces to clear away rubble, bury the dead, and distribute everyday items like clothing.
But it’s been almost six months since NGOs or well-wishers came to help the residents of Zinda Jan. A kind doctor from northern Baghlan province donated money recently.
“There are still earthquakes and these new houses are heavy,” said Osmani. “Children are afraid. The help for the earthquake did not help us.”
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Haqjoo reported from Zinda Jan, Afghanistan.
New houses are seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Damaged classroom is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New houses are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New buildings of a school are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan workers work to rebuild the house for survivors in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 after it was destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan workers work to rebuild a house in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors gather around a water tanker to get potable waterin Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors gather around a water tanker to get potable in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivor, makes a mud home in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors, makes a mud home is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Survivors are stand in front of their new house is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
New houses are seen is seen in Zinda Jan district, of Herat province, in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
A general view of damaged houses in western Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 destroyed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans on Saturday mourned both the victims and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people, including a small child, and injuring at least 200 others.
Authorities arrested a 50-year-old man at the site of the attack in Magdeburg on Friday evening and took him into custody for questioning. He has lived in Germany for nearly two decades, practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg. officials said.
The governor of the surrounding state of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters that the death toll rose from two to five and that more than 200 people in total were injured.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that nearly 40 of them "are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Mourners lit candles and placed flowers outside a church near the market on the cold and gloomy day. Several people stopped and cried. A Berlin church choir whose members witnessed a previous Christmas market attack in 2016 sang Amazing Grace, a hymn about God's mercy, offering their prayers and solidarity with the victims.
There were still no answers Saturday as to what caused him to drive into a crowd in the eastern German city of Magdeburg.
Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.
He also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he said was the “Islamism of Europe.” Some described him as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.
Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann said he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.
“After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar, " Neumann, the director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King’s College London, wrote on X.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters. “Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.”
The violence shocked Germany and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.
Germany has suffered a string of extremist attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August.
Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people, west of Berlin, that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
Chancellor Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser traveled to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening. Faeser ordered flags lowered to half-staff at federal buildings across the country.
Verified bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouted at him as he lay prone, his head arched up slightly. Other officers swarmed around the suspect and took him into custody.
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam whose salon is located in a mall across from the Christmas market, was on the phone during a break when she heard loud bangs and thought at first they were fireworks. She then saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.
Shaking as she described the horror of what she witnessed, she recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee street and then coming to a standstill at the tram stop where the suspect was arrested.
The number of injured people was overwhelming.
“My husband and I helped them for two hours. He ran back home and grabbed as many blankets as he could find because they didn’t have enough to cover the injured people. And it was so cold," she said.
The market itself was still cordoned off Saturday with red-and-white tape and police vans every 50 meters (about 54 yards). Police with machine pistols guarded every entry to the market.
Some thermal security blankets still lay on the street.
Christmas markets are a German holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages, now successfully exported to much of the Western world.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on X.
Aboubakr reported from Cairo and Gera from Warsaw, Poland.
Two firefighters walk through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A damaged car sits with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police stand at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, after a driver plowed into a group of people at the market late Friday. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police stand at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, after a driver plowed into a group of people at the market late Friday. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
A damaged car sits with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police officers and police emergency vehicles are seen at the Christmas market in Magdeburg after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Matthias Bein/dpa via AP)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A barrier tape and police vehicles are seen in front of the entrance to the Christmas market in Magdeburg after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
People mourn in front of St. John's Church for the victims of Friday's attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Matthias Bein/dpa via AP)
Police tape cordons-off a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer stands guard at at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Police officers patrol a cordoned-off area at a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, center, is flanked by Tamara Zieschang, Minister of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt, left, and Simone Borris, Mayor of the City of Magdeburg, at a press conference after a car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this screen grab image from video, special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via AP)
Reiner Haseloff (M, CDU), Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, makes a statement after an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer speaks with a man at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A policeman is seen at the Christmas market where an incident happened in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A firefighter walks through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A view of the cordoned-off Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Forensics work on a damaged car sitting with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
