Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains kill at least 68 people in Afghanistan
Flash floods from heavy seasonal rains have killed at least 68 people in Afghanistan, Taliban officials said Saturday, adding the death toll was based on preliminary reports.
Afghanistan has been witnessing unusually heavy seasonal rains.
In the hard-hit western province of Ghor, 50 people were reported dead, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the provincial governor. He also said the province has suffered significant financial losses after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land were destroyed following Friday’s floods, including the capital city Feroz Koh.
Meanwhile, 18 people in the northern province of Farayab were killed and two others injured on Friday, according to Esmatullah Moradi, the provincial governor’s spokesman. Damages to property and land were reported across four districts and more than 300 animals were killed, he added.
The United Nations food agency posted on social media platform X, saying Ghor was the most affected by the floods where 2,500 families were affected. World Food Program assessment teams are on the ground to deploy assistance, the post said.
The U.N. food agency says more than 300 Afghans have died in flash floods that also destroyed more than 1,000 houses in the northern province of Baghlan.
The Taliban’s government chief spokesman mourned “the loss of our fellow Afghans,” and urged “responsible authorities ... to provide all necessary support to alleviate the suffering,” in a post on X. He also called on “our benevolent donors” to help and humanitarian organizations to provide the affected communities with aid.
Last week, the World Food Program said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan had killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of floods on May 10.
Survivors have been left with no home, no land and no source of livelihood, the World Food Program said. Most of Baghlan is “inaccessible by trucks,” the organization said, adding that it is resorting to every alternative it can think of to deliver food to the survivors
The latest disaster came on the heels of devastating floods that killed at least 70 people in April. The waters also destroyed about 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and Herat, and southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.
Faiez writes for the Associated Press.
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