At Least 26 Killed in Afghan Earthquake (Photos)

At least 26 people were killed after an earthquake hit western Afghanistan, an official revealed on Monday.

The shallow quake was magnitude 5.3, according to the US Geological Survey.

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The victims died when roofs of their residential houses collapsed in Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, district governor Mohammad Saleh Purdel told AFP.

"Several people were also injured in today's earthquake," Purdel said, adding that the victims included women and children.

Qadis is one of the areas worst affected by a devastating drought, benefiting little from international aid in the past 20 years.

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Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

In 2015, a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake centred in the mountain range ripped across South Asia, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan, killing around 280 people.

In that tragic incident, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.