Afghanistan quake kills 1,000 people, deadliest in decades

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s state-run news agency reported a powerful earthquake struck a rural, mountainous region of the country’s east, killing 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more. Wednesday’s quake was the country’s deadliest in two decades. Officials warned that the already grim toll may still rise. Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6.1 earthquake near the Pakistani border. But early footage from villages tucked among the rough mountains showed residents picking through rubble of collapsed stone and mud-brick houses. The disaster posed a major test for the Taliban-led government. The Taliban seized power last year as the U.S. and its allies were withdrawing from the country.