A 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan kills at least 1,000

At least 1,000 people were killed in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, officials said, a further setback in a country already reeling from one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

More than 1,500 were injured in the quake, in addition to the dead, according to the state-run news agency, Bakhtar. Afghanistan is suffering from crippling hunger after the economy collapsed with the Taliban’s takeover of the country last year.

The impact of the earthquake was hardest in the province of Paktika, a mountainous area which borders Pakistan. In one district of that province, Gayan, 1,800 houses—70% of all homes there—were destroyed and damaged, the United Nations said.