Organised rescue efforts are struggling to reach the site of an earthquake in Afghanistan that has killed more than 1,000 people, as survivors dig through the rubble by hand to find those still missing.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by the fact that many countries have suspended or cut back on aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover last year.

In a sign of the muddled workings between the Taliban and the rest of the world, the Taliban had not formally requested for the UN to mobilise international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighbouring countries to supplement the few dozen ambulances and several helicopters sent in by Afghan authorities, said Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN deputy special representative to Afghanistan.

However, officials from multiple UN agencies said the Taliban were allowing full access to the area.

However, other Taliban officials underlined the difficulties they were having in scaling up the rescue effort.

Gholam Ghaos Naseri, the Taliban’s deputy minister for natural disaster management, said: “We have sent dozens of people to rescue people from under the rubbles but they are not enough.

Iran has promised us help and their rescue teams are on their way coming to the area.

“We have sent dozens of people to rescue people from under the rubbles but it is not enough.

Iran has promised us help and their rescue teams are on their way coming to the area.