Although violence in the warn-torn nation has escalated in the past couple of weeks, mostly due to the presidential elections, an accident on Friday morning has left the nation in shock.

On Friday between 11 a.m. and noon, a landslide in the Badakhstan province near the border with Tajikistan buried over 300 homes. According to Reuters, the landslide happened following torrential rains in the region. A smaller landslide earlier in the day damaged part of the village, which is mostly composed of mud-brick houses within a valley, but the second proved to be far more destructive, burying thousands of villagers and slowing down rescue efforts due to the unsafe ground.

"More than 2,100 people from 300 families are all dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial governor, told Reuters.

Rescuers wielding rudimentary tools continued the search the rubble, but officials do not believe anyone survived, reports Reuters. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan has shifted focus onto the survivors. An estimated 4,000 people are now homeless and exposed to the elements and in need of food, water, medicine and shelter, according to Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The Afghan military and NATO troops have been trying to reach the area in hope of aiding the rescue efforts but the heavy rains have turned roads into obstacle courses.

"On behalf of the UN humanitarian agencies, I wish to extend our condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones as a result of these landslides. There have now been more Afghans killed through natural disasters in the past seven days than all of 2013," said Mark Bowden, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, according to USA Today.

"The foremost priority at the moment is saving as many lives as possible of those still beneath the rubble," Bowden added. "The UN system is fully engaged in the ongoing effort and is mobilizing more capacity and resources to bolster the response."

The province's governor said that rescue efforts are moving slowly because they lack effective tools. Heavy machinery is required to move the rubble and rescue any survivors.

"I want to say on behalf of the American people our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan who have experienced an awful tragedy," Obama said during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Just as the United States has stood by the people of Afghanistan through a difficult decade, we stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster," he added. "For even as our war there comes to an end this year, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people will endure."