The Latest Breaking News from Taliban

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake in remote Afghanistan exacerbates a tricky ethical dilemma for Australia and other like-minded nations: How can they help Afghan people dealing with yet another unimaginable situation without supporting the Taliban directly?

"I would get a lot of phone calls from people threatening me, saying they knew I'd worked for the British Forces, it was no longer safe for us."

Disaster has killed more than 1,000 people and officials say toll could rise

The earthquake is the worst to hit the country in decades

At least 1,000 people killed by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in remote, landslide-prone regions of eastern Afghanistan.

Rescuers are digging through rubble with their hands, and the ripple effects of the disaster are being felt in the community in Australia.

Afghan authorities struggled on Thursday to reach a remote area hit by an earthquake that killed some 1,000 people but poor communications and a lack of proper roads hampered their efforts, officials said, as the country's supreme leader pleaded with the international community for help.

The disaster inflicted by the quake heaps more misery on a country where millions face increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has been crumbling since the Taliban retook power last year.

Desperate rescuers battled against the clock Thursday under pouring rain to pull survivors from the rubble after a powerful quake struck a mountainous border region of Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people. The 5.9-magnitude quake struck hardest in the rugged east, where people already lead hardscrabble lives in the grip…