International aid has began reaching thousands of homeless and hungry families in isolated villages devastated by Afghanistan's latest earthquake.
Up to 3,000 people are feared to have died in the earthquake on Monday night in the remote Hindu Kush region, although the final toll will not be known until a thorough search of villages has been completed.
UN humanitarian coordinator's office spokeswomen Ms Stephanie Bunker said the death toll might not be as high as initially feared but she did not give an estimated number of dead.
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Interior ministry officials said they believed the death toll was "definitely more than two to three thousand". But an assistant to the United Nations' special envoy on Afghanistan put the death toll at between 800 and 1,000.
UN officials said six outlying villages had been destroyed and that aid had only begun to reach those areas overnight.
Ms Bunker said the relief effort was "proceeding pretty well" and 100 tonnes of food had arrived at the town Nahrin and another 1,900 tonnes were on the way. She said 4,000 families had already received aid but up to 20,000 were believed to be in desperate need.
US military personnel fighting the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan had also become involved in the relief operation for the first time.
AFP