Afghanistan was hit by flash floods triggered by heavy rains on Friday, which have caused devastation in several areas of the country. According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior Affairs, at least 153 people have been killed, and 138 have been injured across three provinces. The worst-hit province is Baghlan, where more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed, and more than 300 people have died, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that more than 200 people were killed in Baghlan alone. The floods have also affected the provinces of Badakhshan in the northeast, central Ghor, and western Herat.
Emergency personnel are searching for victims under mud and rubble with the assistance of security forces from the national army and police, according to Hedayatullah Hamdard, the head of Baghlan’s natural disaster management department. The air force has started evacuating people, and more than 100 injured people have been moved to military hospitals, says the Taliban Ministry of Defense. The ministry has also distributed food, medicine, and first aid to affected people.
The floods have caused significant financial losses, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government. The WFP has started distributing fortified biscuits to survivors of one of the many floods that have hit the country over the past few weeks. Farmlands have been submerged, and the country’s agriculture sector, which 80% of the population depends on for survival, has been severely affected. Since mid-April, floods have killed about 100 people in 10 of Afghanistan’s provinces.
