Alef, 32, was once one of the lucky ones. Few men in Afghanistan can get a passport these days – such is the scale of the country’s economic crisis – but he has one, which he used frequently to travel from his village, Sia Ab, near the western city of Herat, to nearby Iran to work as a labourer.
But it was that very privilege that prevented him from returning home on the morning of October 7, when relatives called him shortly after 11am to say a massive earthquake had struck, and that Sia Ab was near the epicentre.
He did not know at the time that his village, which had been home to more than 1,000 people, was almost completely destroyed.
Alef’s passport was kept by Iranian border police when he had crossed six weeks earlier, and as soon as he heard about the earthquake, he tried to get it back. He was still waiting by sunset, when he received another call informing him his entire family was dead. Alef spent that night sleeping rough by the border post, his mind utterly consumed by the worst news anyone could ever receive.
The bodies hadn’t been buried yet when I arrived. I managed to see two of my little girls – one was 13 and the other five. But I couldn’t see my wife, my boy and my two other daughters
Alef,
resident of Sia Ab village
“I finally reached the village two days later,” he told The National. “The excavator was still removing bodies and many of them were in pieces.
“The bodies hadn’t been buried yet when I arrived. I managed to see two of my little girls – one was 13 and the other five. But I couldn’t see my wife, my boy and my two other daughters. Their bodies were not identifiable.”
Sitting on the floor of his tent, he wears a stoic expression. “We were seven. Only I am left now – just me and God above.”
Alef’s pain is shared by nearly all of the village’s men. More than a tenth of Sia Ab’s population died in the earthquake. Another 100 were injured, many critically. The victims were largely women and children, as most of Sia Ab’s men work outside in the fields or travel for their jobs.
Abdul Latif, 33, was also in Iran on the morning of the earthquake. He, too, had to spend that night sleeping near the border and returned home the next day to find he had lost his mother and his only daughter, 13-year-old Ruqayya.
“You can see with your own eyes,” he says, standing on the pile of rubble that used to be his house. “It’s a special pain, losing your daughter. It was God’s wish that I would only have one. Now I don’t have any children. But I have to say thanks that God gave her to me before he took her back.”
Sia Ab’s victims have been buried in a fresh cemetery on a hilltop nearby. The steep walk up the slope is a daily ritual for Alef, Abdul Latif and the other men. When The National visited, one elderly man, Abdul Rasul, was fighting a windstorm that swept into the area to make his way up to where his three daughters are now buried. “I saw the walls fall on them,” he says, his eyes welling up. “And now they are in the ground.”
The National visited Sia Ab on October 31 to find the village reduced to rubble, the villagers scattered across the barren hills of the surrounding landscape in tents provided by the UN and international aid agencies. Only the school remains standing.
As UN workers carry out welfare checks, the wind batters the tents and sends everyone indoors for cover. In the shelter of a converted shipping container, officials from the World Food Programme told The National discussions were under way with Afghanistan’s “de facto authorities” (DFA) – the term the UN and many aid groups use to refer to the country’s Taliban rulers – to plan for the village’s reconstruction.
When the earthquake struck, the Taliban authorities responded rapidly. The normally onerous procedures for foreign aid operations have been suspended for earthquake relief projects, says one aid worker from a major international NGO, who requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
“We don’t need any of the usual permits to do our relief work in the earthquake-affected areas,” the aid worker said. “Normally we face a lot of challenges and restrictions – getting permission can take up to four months. But the DFA recognises the seriousness of the situation. They have just asked us [international aid groups] to co-ordinate our activities with one another.”
“The only challenge we have faced is the DFA’s requirement that no female staff are allowed to work in the disaster area without a male escort. But we are very familiar with this restriction by now, so we were well prepared.”
The earthquake has not only levelled entire villages in Herat’s environs; it has upended life in Herat’s city centre and raised fears over whether the city’s famous cultural monuments are now in jeopardy.
The National visited Herat’s old city, a centuries-old medina of winding alleyways and ornate Persian architecture. At a local boys’ school that was once an ancient synagogue for the city’s former Jewish population, teachers pointed out cracks that appeared this month in the domes.
A short walk away, outside Herat’s historic blue mosque, the public square is filled with dozens of tents housing displaced families from earthquake-hit villages. The city’s public parks have been given over to the tents also, and its main streets are lined with them.
No one seems to know how long the situation will persist. Herat itself continues to suffer from aftershocks, including one that occurred in the middle of the night during The National’s visit. The manager at the hotel where The National’s reporter stayed had set up beds in the garden of the hotel restaurant, in case guests were worried about earthquakes.
Taliban authorities have allocated at least $1 million for reconstruction efforts and set up donations from Afghan citizens and small NGOs. At least $3 million has been pledged by private donors, including Azizi Bank. But funding is not the main issue.
Villagers are most concerned with their short-term survival. While families have been given rice, oil and flour by the Taliban authorities and aid organisations, those The National spoke to said they lacked equipment to cook. During The National’s visit, WFP officials discussed plans to supply ovens and gas cookers.
Reconstruction methods are also a concern. Piles of clay bricks and bags of cement have been laid out neatly on the outskirts of Sia Ab, but the challenge for the Afghan National Disaster Management Agency (Anda) and aid organisations is how to use these materials to rebuild affected villages in a way that adheres to the local vernacular but is also more earthquake-resistant than previous techniques.
An engineer working for an international NGO, who also requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to journalists, said Anda and aid groups had learnt many lessons from the major earthquakes that struck Paktika and Khost, in south-eastern Afghanistan, last year. It was the Taliban’s first experience with a major natural disaster since it took power in 2021.
“We can co-ordinate better with the DFA now and design buildings in the local style, but with some modifications here and there that will help.”
Once the real winter starts, it will become impossible to build with cement
Qadir Assemy,
head of the WFP Herat office
“The biggest problem,” says Qadir Assemy, head of the WFP Herat office, “is that winter is coming quickly.” His words are interrupted by the frequent sound of stones being blown by the wind against the sides of the shipping container.
“You can see the temperatures dropping and the winds outside. Once the real winter starts, it will become impossible to build with cement.”
A delay in reconstruction means an uncertain fate for villagers – a thought that preoccupies Alef even amid his extraordinary loss.
“I’m just one man, alone now,” he says. “You could give me a plant to live off of and I’ll be fine. But those with families, with children … I don’t know how they will survive the winter. They might lose their children, too.”
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Company%20profile
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UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
Biography
Favourite book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Holiday choice: Anything Disney-related
Proudest achievement: Receiving a presidential award for foreign services.
Family: Wife and three children.
Like motto: You always get what you ask for, the universe listens.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
MATCH INFO
Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)
Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no
Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)
Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9
Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
