☰

Global

Earthquake hits Afghanistan


    KABUL (Reuters) - An earthquake of 5.9 magnitude jolted parts of Afghanistan on Monday but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage, officials said.

    The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Badakhshan provincial capital Faizabad, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Kabul. It was also felt in neighbouring Pakistan and Tajikistan.

    "It was a strong quake but we haven't heard anything of casualties or damage so far," said the police chief of Badakhshan, Aqa Noor Akintooz.

    Authorities were trying to make contact with remote regions, he added.

    Mountainous Afghanistan has suffered a series of earthquakes that have killed thousands of people in the last decade.

    (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Editing by Dean Yates)