TALIBAN leaders visited western Afghanistan’s Herat province today in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people over the weekend and flattened entire villages, a statement said.

Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake hit a densely populated area in Herat and was followed by strong aftershocks in what was one of the deadliest to strike the country in two decades.

The Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and his team was also set to visit the quake-affected region on Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid,” according to a statement from the capital, Kabul.