Flash floods kill at least 18 in Afghanistan: official

Flash floods and storms killed at least 18 people after ravaging several provinces of Afghanistan over the last 5 days, an official stated Wednesday.

Scores of Afghans die every 12 months in torrential downpours, specifically in impoverished rural regions wherein poorly built homes are liable to disintegrate.

Deputy minister for disaster management Sharafuddin Muslim said the latest deluges wracked the provinces of Faryab and Parwan, as well as various other regions.

In a video statement, Muslims said “18 to 20 people have been killed across 10 provinces” and that more than 100 houses were also destroyed.

Two people remain missing while 30 others have been injured.

Relief teams have been despatched to the affected areas with tents and food and the authorities are distributing cash to families of those killed, he said.

Since the Taliban stormed back to power in August last year foreign-funded aid and disaster relief schemes have dramatically fallen off.

Western nations are wary that any assistance could be commandeered by Kabul’s new rulers, consolidating their grip on government.

Rescue efforts have therefore fallen to the Taliban themselves, who have been waging an insurgency for the past twenty years and have little experience in emergency management.

This 12 months flooding additionally got here because the country discovered the Eid al-Fitr holidays after the fasting month of Ramadan ended on Saturday in Afghanistan.

During the remaining weeks of Ramadan, Afghanistan witnessed several deadly bombings generally focused on the minority Shiite and Sufi groups.

Islamic State claimed a lot of those assaults.