A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 26 people, officials said. Baz Mohammad Sarwary, a spokesperson for the Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, told AFP that the victims were killed when the quake caused residential roofs to collapse. Four others were injured, he said. “Five women and four children are among the 26 people killed in the earthquake,” Sarwary told the newswire. He added that Taliban fighters have been able to reach some of the affected areas. “But Badghis is a mountainous province, the number of casualties might go up,” he said, adding that heavy rain was also lashing the area. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was magnitude 5.3. Mullah Janan Saeqe, head of the Emergency Operations Centre of the Ministry of State for Emergency Affairs, said more than 700 houses had been damaged. Sanullah Sabit, the head …