The United Nations said on Saturday that more than 200 people were killed in flash floods that slammed through numerous Afghan provinces, as officials declared an emergency and scrambled to rescue the injured.
Heavy rains on Friday flooded communities and agricultural area in numerous provinces, with northern Baghlan being particularly hard struck.
More than 200 people were killed, and thousands of homes were burned or damaged in Baghlan alone, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration.
In one district, Baghlani Jadid, up to 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed, and “more than 100 people died,” according to Mohammad Fahim Safie, the National Programme Officer in charge of the IOM’s emergency response.
Officials from the Taliban government reported that 62 people had perished by Friday night.
“Hundreds of our fellow citizens have succumbed to these calamitous floods,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement uploaded to X on Saturday.
He did not specify the number of dead and injured, but told AFP that dozens had been killed.
Rains on Friday also caused significant damage in northeastern Badakhshan, central Ghor, and western Herat, according to officials.
According to the defence ministry, emergency officials are rushing to rescue injured and stranded individuals.
According to Ahmad Seyar Sajid, chief of the natural catastrophes management department in northern Takhar province, the floods have resulted in both human tragedies and significant financial damages. He estimates that 20 people died in the flooding.
State of emergency
The defence ministry directed various branches to “provide any kind of assistance to the victims of this incident with all available resources.”
The air force said it began evacuation operations as the weather cleared on Saturday, and that more than a hundred injured individuals had been transported to hospitals, without saying which provinces.
“By announcing the state of emergency in (affected) areas, the Ministry of National Defense has started distributing food, medicine and first aid to the impacted people,” it stated.
Massive torrents of muddy water flooded roads, with victims draped in white and black cloth, according to video footage posted on social media on Friday.
In one camera clip, children are heard screaming, and a group of men are shown looking at floodwaters that contain chunks of shattered wood and debris from homes.
According to authorities, flash flooding and other disasters have killed approximately 100 people in ten provinces of Afghanistan since mid-April, with no region spared.
Farmland has been swamped in a country where 80 percent of the more than 40 million people rely on agriculture for survival.
Afghanistan, which experienced a relatively dry winter, making it harder for the soil to absorb rainfall, is extremely vulnerable to climate change.
The country, wrecked by four decades of war, is one of the poorest in the world and, according to scientists, one of the least prepared to deal with the effects of global warming.