Survivors dig by hand after Afghanistan earthquake kills 1,000

A man stands among the destruction after an earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan (Ebrahim Nooroozi/AP)

Survivors have been digging by hand in eastern Afghanistan villages reduced to rubble by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 1,000 people – as the Taliban and the international community that fled their takeover struggle to aid the disaster’s victims.

In Paktika province’s hard-hit Gayan district, villagers stood atop the mud bricks that once was a home there. Others carefully walked through dirt alleyways, gripping on to damaged walls with exposed timber beams to make their way.