分类： world

Just days after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rattled Indonesia’s eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara, thousands of displaced survivors remain stranded without critical assistance, as authorities confirmed the death toll has climbed to 68, up from an earlier count of 54. More than 200 people have been injured in the quake, which hit the region last Saturday, according to Berton SP Panjaitan, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s national disaster management agency.

The island of Flores, one of the disaster zone’s hardest-hit areas, remains partially cut off, with isolated communities still searching for missing relatives and waiting for life-saving supplies. Preliminary damage assessments show more than 1,300 residential properties have been damaged, including nearly 250 that were completely reduced to rubble. Dozens of public infrastructure facilities, including local schools, community health centers and government administrative offices, also sustained severe structural damage.

On Sunday, the provincial governor declared a 14-day state of emergency to coordinate response efforts. Approximately 12,800 residents have been unable to return to their damaged or destroyed homes, and are currently sheltering in temporary evacuation sites scattered across Flores. Many survivors have chosen to camp outside in makeshift tents rather than stay in formal buildings, driven by widespread fear of powerful aftershocks that could further collapse damaged structures.

For many locals, the delay in aid has deepened the crisis. Junaidin, a 32-year-old resident of Mbay, told reporters his home became uninhabitable after the quake left major cracks and partial structural collapse. Frustrated by the slow response, he said, “We have received no assistance from the government: no tents, no medicine, no food, no clean drinking water.”

National authorities have begun deploying emergency resources to the region. The Indonesian Air Force has delivered 13 tons of relief supplies via cargo planes, including ready-to-eat meals, clothing, clean water and essential medical equipment. Military helicopters have been assigned to reach cut-off remote communities that are inaccessible by road, and uniformed personnel have been deployed to help distribute aid across the disaster zone.

Rescue teams are still conducting search operations to locate any potential survivors trapped under rubble, though as of Monday there have been no official reports of people listed as missing. Temporary field hospitals have been set up to treat injured survivors, after most local medical facilities sustained damage. Many survivors are even receiving care outdoors in open-air medical tents, out of concern that damaged hospital buildings could collapse during aftershocks. Medical teams, however, are grappling with shortages of essential equipment and supplies, forcing them to deliver care under extremely challenging conditions.

Geographically, Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a horseshoe-shaped zone of intense seismic activity that circles the Pacific basin, making the country extremely prone to strong earthquakes. One of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history struck the nation in 2004, when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a massive Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people across 14 countries.

The recent earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara has once again highlighted the ongoing vulnerability of Indonesia’s seismically active regions to catastrophic natural disasters, and underscored the urgent need for robust, rapid disaster response systems and resilient infrastructure. As of Monday, the situation in affected areas remains critical, and relief and recovery operations are continuing around the clock.

August 16 marked five full years since the Taliban reclaimed full control of Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed former government in Kabul. Half a decade on, the landscape of armed opposition to Taliban rule has shifted dramatically: what once began as a unified, fronted resistance has fractured into a sprawling network of disparate armed groups, operating across multiple provinces and expanding their digital footprint in recent months. This fragmentation has left analysts questioning whether the growing visibility of resistance signals a broad, expanding pushback against the Taliban, or deeper division that weakens the overall opposition movement.

Recent heavy clashes in Badakhshan Province’s Zebak District have thrust the shifting resistance landscape into the spotlight. In these engagements, the Afghanistan Freedom Front launched coordinated strikes against Taliban military positions, successfully seizing several key outposts. While Taliban officials officially claimed they had repelled the assault, fighting persisted for multiple days – a departure from the short, surprise hit-and-run attacks that have defined most resistance operations since 2021.

The first major organized armed resistance to emerge after Kabul fell was the National Resistance Front, which drew thousands of exiled soldiers from the former Afghan government to the mountainous Panjshir Province, where leaders attempted to establish a permanent stronghold for opposition operations. The Taliban launched a swift offensive to crush the movement, however, and seized full control of the Panjshir region. Since that defeat, the National Resistance Front has been limited to carrying out only sporadic small-scale attacks across remote areas.

Today, the resistance ecosystem extends far beyond these two prominent groups, with smaller factions including the Homeland Army, Freedom and Justice Movement, and Green Movement all claiming operational activity across the country. This proliferation has created a tangled, often unclear network of opposition groups, with multiple factions frequently claiming credit for the same attack on Taliban targets. Analysts also note that social media has emerged as a critical secondary battleground, where groups work to amplify their presence and attract support to maintain relevance.
Afghanistan analysts including Karim Amini have outlined core structural challenges facing the fragmented resistance movement. Amini points out that most opposition groups are organized and based outside of Afghanistan’s borders, severely limiting their ability to build a deep, sustained popular base within the country. Compounding this challenge, decades of continuous war have left Afghan civilian society exhausted and largely unwilling to throw their support behind a new cycle of armed conflict.

Most critically, experts agree that resistance groups have failed to align their movement with the immediate needs and priorities of ordinary Afghans. Armed opposition disconnected from local realities and lacking grassroots popular support will struggle to operate as a sustainable political and military force, analysts argue. For the movement to gain long-term traction, it needs not only the capacity to carry out attacks against Taliban targets, but also to win public trust and present a credible, unified political alternative to Taliban rule.

The Taliban for their part have dismissed the resistance as a insignificant threat to their governance, insisting that they exercise full control over all of Afghanistan’s territory. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has framed opposition groups as largely limited to online propaganda campaigns, and asserted that the Afghan public is fully committed to maintaining domestic security and stability. The movement even held public celebrations in Kabul near the former U.S. embassy to mark the five-year anniversary of their takeover.

While the fragmented resistance has not yet managed to secure and hold any permanent territorial control, its persistent cross-province attacks have forced the Taliban to spread military resources thin and maintain constant active patrols in remote border regions, creating an ongoing, low-grade security challenge that strains the Taliban’s governing capacity. Some analysts, including Rafiullah Kakar, argue that the resistance’s core strategy is not to seize major population centers or defeat the Taliban militarily in open battle, but rather to gradually weaken the group’s hold on power through constant, low-intensity pressure. This strategy requires a careful balance between military operations and building broad public support – a combination that has so far eluded the fragmented opposition.

The growing number of active resistance groups does not mean Afghanistan is on the brink of a full-scale new civil war, analysts note. But it does confirm that the country’s ongoing conflict has never ended, it has simply transformed into a new phase of low-intensity, fragmented opposition after the 2021 government collapse. The Taliban retain formal state control, but continue to grapple with major unresolved challenges, including a lack of domestic political legitimacy and near-universal non-recognition from the international community. For the resistance movement, the path forward carries a dual challenge: factions must unify their scattered military capabilities and build a cohesive platform that offers Afghans a credible political alternative for the country’s future.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake has claimed at least 38 lives on Indonesia’s Flores island, leaving widespread destruction and triggering urgent rescue efforts across the affected region. The seismic event struck at 5:58 a.m. local time on Saturday, with its epicenter located roughly 68 kilometers northwest of the coastal city of Ende, in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Three strong aftershocks, measuring magnitudes 5.9, 5.6, and 6.1 respectively, hit the area within hours of the main quake, compounding the initial damage. The earthquake left a trail of destruction across multiple districts, damaging hundreds of residential homes, commercial warehouses, and public government buildings. Landslides triggered by the shaking have blocked key arterial roads, cutting off access to remote hard-hit communities and significantly hampering rescue and relief teams as they work to reach trapped survivors.

As of the latest update from local disaster management authorities, the 38 confirmed fatalities are spread across four cities on Flores. Two people remain trapped under collapsed building rubble in the nearby Manggarai region, with rescue crews working around the clock to extract them alive. “Our absolute priority right now is locating any survivors trapped beneath debris,” explained Fathur Rahman, head of the local rescue unit based in Maumere. Many impacted zones remain inaccessible due to landslide debris and damaged critical infrastructure, slowing the progress of search operations.

In Nagekeo, the district closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, roughly 2,000 residents have been evacuated to higher, safer ground to avoid further risks. Mobile communication signals have been disrupted across large swathes of the impacted area, creating major delays in information gathering and damage assessment. Local officials have issued repeated warnings urging residents not to return to damaged or structurally compromised buildings, due to the persistent threat of additional aftershocks that may hit in coming days.

Shortly after the main earthquake, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an urgent tsunami warning for all coastal areas adjacent to the quake zone. The warning was later lifted after monitoring confirmed no dangerous sea level anomalies had developed, but the agency still advised residents to avoid low-lying beach areas and river banks and stay on higher ground as a precaution. BMKG has announced it will continue continuous monitoring of sea levels in the region out of an abundance of caution.

Preliminary estimates indicate more than 500,000 people on Flores experienced violent shaking from the quake, while millions more across adjacent regions reported moderate to strong tremors. With many structures damaged or destroyed, the full extent of human harm and economic damage is still being counted as survey teams work to reach cut-off areas.

Indonesia sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active zone marked by frequent tectonic movement that makes the nation highly vulnerable to major earthquakes and tsunamis. In 1992, a similarly powerful earthquake off the coast of Flores triggered a devastating tsunami that killed an estimated 2,500 people.

Despite the ongoing challenges of blocked routes, disrupted communications, and lingering aftershock risks, rescue operations are continuing at full pace. Local disaster management officials say they are prepared for additional aftershocks that may persist over the next several days, and have pre-positioned emergency supplies to support displaced residents.