Flash floods due to unusually heavy seasonal rains kill at least 50 people in western Afghanistan

Islamabad, May 18

Flash floods from heavy seasonal rains in the province of Ghor in western Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people, a Taliban official said on Saturday, adding the death toll was based on preliminary reports and might rise.

Dozens others remain missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for Ghor’s provincial governor.

He also said the province suffered significant financial losses after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land destroyed following Friday’s floods, including the capital city Feroz Koh.

Last week, the UN food agency said the unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have 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 Organisation said. Most of Baghlan is “inaccessible by trucks,” said WFP, 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.