NAHRIN, March 27: Heavy aftershocks hampered relief efforts on Wednesday as stunned Afghans buried victims of a devastating earthquake which killed up to 3,000 people and left 20,000 homeless.

Aerial surveys of far-flung areas revealed that six villages have suffered “100 percent total destruction”, United Nations regional coordinator Farhana Faruqi said.

The aerial surveys were conducted out of fear of landmines in the area that was once a frontline between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance.

International aid was trickling into this northern district over the treacherous road from Kabul some 175 kilometres to the south, but it was nowhere near enough to deal with the scale of the calamity, residents said.

Interior ministry officials who arrived here Wednesday said the death toll could rise to 3,000 as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and heavy aftershocks measuring up to 5.2 on the Richter scale rocked the area.

“We can’t tell you the exact number of deaths but it is definitely more than two to three thousand,” said Frydoon, the personal secretary to interim Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 1,200 bodies have been counted so far, about 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 20,000 people have been left without shelter.

Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai has declared Thursday a national day of mourning, state television and UN officials announced in Kabul.

Flags will be flown at half-mast across the country and at Afghan embassies and consulates abroad, under the decree issued by Karzai.

Initial reports suggested 90 per cent of this Baghlan provincial town of around 20,000 people had been destroyed, along with several outlying villages.

UN and Afghan officials estimate some 4,000 people were injured in the quakes, which first struck on Monday evening and measured six on the Richter scale.—AFP