Afghanistan devastated floods killed 315 people

• Heavy rains caused flash floods in northern Afghanistan, resulting in 315 deaths and 1,600 injuries.
• Aid groups warned of damage to healthcare facilities and vital infrastructure.
• In the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, people carried shrouded dead to a grave site.

Heavy rains caused flash floods that devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, authorities said on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of 315 people and injuries to more than 1,600. Villagers buried their dead as aid agencies warned of widening havoc.

The Taliban-run refugee ministry reported that thousands of homes were damaged and livestock were wiped out, while aid groups warned of damage to healthcare facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supply, with streets left coated in mud.

In the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, people carried shrouded dead to a grave site.

“We have no food, no drinking water, no shelter, no blankets, nothing at all, floods have destroyed everything,” said Muhammad Yahqoob, who has lost 13 members of his family, children among them.

He added that the survivors were struggling to cope.

“Out of 42 houses, only two or three remain, it has destroyed the entire valley.”

In a statement, the Taliban’s economy minister, Din Mohammad Hanif, urged the United Nations, humanitarian agencies, and private businesses to provide support for those affected by the floods.

“Arshad Malik, the Afghanistan director for Save the Children, said, “Floods have washed away lives and livelihoods. “The flash floods tore through villages, sweeping away homes and killing livestock.”

He estimated that 310,000 children lived in the worst-hit districts, adding, “Children have lost everything.”

According to a post on X, the refugee ministry said Sunday’s latest tally of dead and injured came from its Baghlan provincial office. Earlier, the interior ministry had put the toll from Friday’s floods at 153 but warned it could rise.

Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters, and the United Nations considers it one of the country’s most vulnerable to climate change.

After foreign forces withdrew in 2021, leaving the Taliban in control, Afghanistan faced a shortfall in aid as development aid, which formed the backbone of government finances, was cut.

Subsequent years have seen the situation worsen as foreign governments grapple with competing global crises and growing condemnation of the Taliban’s curbs on Afghan women.

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