At least 155 children died in last week's devastating earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Sunday as cash strapped survivors scramble for money to meet their basic needs.
The UN's humanitarian coordination organization (OCHA) said nearly 250 children were injured in the magnitude 6 temblor that struck the mountainous villages in the Paktika and Khost provinces near the country's border with Pakistan, killing more than 1,150 people, injuring 2,000 and destroying 10,000 homes.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) appealed on Monday seeking cash for survivors of a deadly earthquake, saying it had no room to store food and had enough tents and money for villagers to meet their particular needs would be most useful now.
"People ask for cash in the areas, they say they've received enough aid," the deputy head of the Afghan aid agency, Mullah Noordden Turaby, told a news conference in Kabul.
"We will discuss (with partners) a long-term plan. Currently, enough first aid has been delivered -- whether it is tents, shelter, food or other items."
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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said it believed women would be at the centre of rebuilding communities hardest hit by the quake.
"When it comes to reconstruction of the local economy... we will make sure that women are at the core of that," said Abdallah Al Dardari, the UNDP resident representative.
'Testing ground'
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have been criticized for reintroducing a hardline version of Islamic rule that imposes severe restrictions on women -- including their right to education, work and travel.
"This will be a testing ground on how we are moving forward with this women's economic empowerment," Al Dardari told AFP.
"We are determined, there is no way around that -- and we believe, in fact, from the early signs from the ground, it will be women, who are actually today keeping those local communities alive."
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was sending trauma teams to Paktika to help survivors deal with the psychological effects of the earthquake.
Hardly a family in rural Gayan district escaped untouched by the tragedy, and there are multiple reports of households with more than a dozen members being killed.
"The exact numbers of casualties and houses/premises destruction are still not fully identified and not yet confirmed," the WHO said in its latest bulletin.
"Challenges remain in accessibility... traffic and road conditions in the affected areas have delayed the delivery of supplies."
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that having dealt with the immediate needs of those injured in the quake, focus was now on the weeks and months ahead.
"Now health needs are turning to dehydration and diarrhoea caused by a lack of safe water," said Jose Mas, MSF emergency coordinator.
The disaster is a major test for Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers, who many foreign governments have shunned because of concern about human rights since they seized power last year.
In addition, sanctions on Afghan government bodies and banks have cut off most direct assistance for a country that was facing a humanitarian crisis, including famine, even before the 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck.
Nevertheless, the United Nations and several other countries have sent aid to the affected area.