The death toll from powerful earthquakes in western Afghanistan is estimated at 2,000, a senior Taliban leader said, adding that the death toll could be higher in one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the country in two decades.

Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman based in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that many people were missing and rescue operations were underway to pull people out of the rubble after the 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Herat province.

Shaheen added that the country urgently needs tents, medical and food supplies in the disaster-affected areas, calling on local businessmen and non-governmental organizations to help.

Earlier, Abdul Wahid Rayan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Information and Culture, told The Associated Press that more than 2,000 people had died in the earthquake and strong aftershocks. About six villages were destroyed and hundreds of civilians were buried under the debris.

The country's national disaster authority said on Saturday that the quake had killed about 100 people.

Later on Saturday, the UN put the death toll at 320. However, it was later revealed that the figures were still being verified, while the Red Crescent said 500 people had died.

A resident of Herat said the earthquake was followed by at least five strong aftershocks.

"Everyone is out of their homes. Houses, offices and shops are empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were at home when we felt the tremor," he added.

Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mohammad Abdullah Jan explained that the earthquake and aftershocks damaged homes in four villages in the Zende Jan district of Herat province. Damage was also reported in Farah and Badghis provinces.

The World Health Organization's Afghanistan office said it had sent 12 ambulances to Zendeh Jan to transport injured people to hospitals.

"As deaths and casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting with the treatment of the injured," the UN agency said.

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, offered his condolences to the families of the victims and those injured in the earthquake.

In June 2022, a strong earthquake struck a rocky, mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan, leveling stone and brick houses. It was Afghanistan's deadliest earthquake in two decades, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring about 1,500.

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