Brian McDonald
Floods Heavy seasonal rains have killed at least 68 people in Afghanistan, Taliban officials said on Saturday, adding that 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 killed, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the provincial governor. He also said the province suffered significant financial losses after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds of hectares of farmland destroyed following Friday’s floods, including in the capital Feroz Koh.
Omid Haqjoo/AP
Meanwhile, 18 people in the northern province of Farayab were killed and two others injured on Friday, according to Esmatullah Moradi, spokeswoman for the provincial governor. Damage to property and land was reported in four districts and more than 300 animals were killed, he added.
The UN food agency posted on social media platform X, saying Ghor was most affected by the floods, which affected 2,500 families. WFP assessment teams are on the ground to distribute assistance, the post said.
The Taliban government’s top spokesman lamented “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 appealed to the ” our benevolent donors” for aid and humanitarian organizations to provide aid to affected communities.
Last week, the PMA said the exceptional situation Heavy rains in Afghanistan killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of homes, particularly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the May 10 floods.
Survivors were left without a home, land and source of livelihood, the World Food Organization said. Most of Baghlan is “inaccessible to trucks,” the WFP said, adding that it is using every alternative it can think of to deliver food to survivors.
The latest disaster followed devastating floods that killed at least 70 people in April. The waters also destroyed around 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and Herat, and in southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.
In 2022, severe flooding caused by seasonal rains in the east Afghanistan and neighboring parts of Pakistan left dozens dead, according to local officials.
