Recent flash floods kill at least 31 people in Afghanistan whilst 40 people remain missing. Reported detail that 74 people have been injured due to flooding. Afghan authorities confirmed that flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall have hit seven provinces in the country over the weekend.
According to an estimate in excess of 600 residential houses have been either partially or completely damaged in the flash floods. It is being feared that hundreds of acres of agricultural lands have been affected by the flood waters. Shafiullah Rahimi, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Disaster Management has confirmed the figures further detailing that rescue and relief efforts are underway.
“Teams of the ministry along with teams from the ministry of defence, ministry of public welfare, Red Crescent, provinces officials and other officials reached at the scenes of the floods and administered the rescue operations,” the spokesperson of the regime said in a press conference in Kabul.
Authorities have confirmed that majority of the casualties were in west Kabul and Maidan Wardak. Raging flood waters continued to wreck havoc as about 250 livestock perished. The spokesperson further clarified that the highway stretching between Kabul and the central Bamiyan province was closed due to the floods.
On the other hand, in an official statement released on Sunday, July 23, the Taliban’s Ministry of State for Disaster Management said nearly 10,000 families were impacted by natural disasters in different provinces since the start of this year have received aid in the form of food and cash. In recent past four months there have been 214 casualties in Afghanistan owing to natural disasters seen in the country, according to the ministry. The floods come at a time when Afghanistan is already reeling under multiple crises.
