Iran aid team arrives to help in Afghanistan

The first batch of international aid arrived in Afghanistan's Khost province from Iran on Thursday as the Taliban appealed for help from from international community to provide aid for the survivors of the deadly earthquake.

The magnitude 6 tremblor killed 1,000 people and injured 1,500 more.

The aid package which was delivered by two Iranian army planes included 600 tents, 800 blankets, medicine and a team of Iranian Red Crescent workers,  including doctors.

Wednesday's quake was the country's deadliest in two decades. Officials warned that the already grim toll may still rise. Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6.1 earthquake near the Pakistani border.

The disaster heaps more misery on a country where millions face increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has been crumbling since the Taliban retook power nearly 10 months ago amid the U.S. and NATO withdrawal.

The takeover led to a cutoff of vital international financing, and most of the world has shunned the Taliban government.

In a rare move, the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, who almost never appears in public, pleaded with the international community and humanitarian organizations "to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort."