Afghan Refugee In Tulsa Asks For Prayers For People In Home Country

Less than a year after the United States withdrew forces from Afghanistan, the country is dealing with a new humanitarian crisis.

More than a thousand people are dead and thousands more injured, after a 6.1 earthquake hit a mountainous region in the country.

It happened last week in a remote area in eastern Afghanistan. With poor infrastructure, buildings completely crumbled.

"We lost some of our friends and some of our relatives there." A man named Saber, who we are not showing or identifying to protect his family from the Taliban, just moved to Tulsa five months ago.

Almost all of his family and friends are still in the country and he is able to communicate with some of them.

"People are currently looking for some type of shelter because they don't have any shelter, there's no food," said Saber.

Saber, who is working as a translator with Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, said Afghanistan needs help.

After the US withdrew and the Taliban took over, Saber said the country has been in turmoil.

With poverty, little resources and no government to respond to disasters.

"Our problem is before the Taliban, we had a good government, and they had the capacity, they had the education, they knew how to deal with this kind of natural disasters,” said Saber. “But now with the Taliban there coming from the mountains, and they don't know how to deal with this crisis."

Saber said he's scared for his family and friends and is praying for everyone’s safety.

The United Nations is assisting in the country where it can.

US officials met Wednesday with the Taliban in Qatar to discuss financial measures.