Flash floods in Afghanistan kill at least 200 people as humanitarian emergency looms

CNN
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Flash floods that have ravaged northern Afghanistan in recent days have killed at least 200 people, the UN agency the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told CNN on Saturday.

The northern provinces of Badakhshan, Ghor, Baghlan and Herat all experienced heavy flooding, which also damaged nearly 2,000 homes, an IOM communications official said in a statement, citing the Afghan National Security Authority. disaster management.

The IOM, which is providing emergency assistance on the ground, said it expects the death toll to rise.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which is preparing its emergency response to floods affecting seven provinces, put the death toll at a higher level. More than 250 lives were lost while “thousands” of people were left stranded without access to services, the IRC said in a statement on Saturday.

“These latest floods have caused a major humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, which is still reeling from a series of earthquakes earlier this year as well as severe flooding in March,” said Salma Ben Aissa, director of the IRC in Afghanistan.

“Communities have lost entire families, while their livelihoods have been decimated,” she said.

On Saturday, video captured by the Reuters news agency showed mourners burying the dead in Baghlan province. A man named Gulbudeen described losing several members of his family in the floods.

“I lost five members of my family, two sons, two daughters and their mother, to these devastating flash floods. We were on the other side of the flood, but we could not help them, and finally the flood ended. the lives of our loved ones,” he said.

Residents of Laqayi village, also in Baghlan province, tried to clear rivers of mud in front of their homes on Saturday, video filmed by the AFP news agency showed. Villagers could be seen wading through the deep pools of mud which appeared to have caused significant damage to homes.

The ruling Taliban acknowledged the “heavy toll” caused by the floods in a statement published on Saturday on X by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.

“Unfortunately, hundreds of our citizens succumbed to these catastrophic floods, while a significant number were injured. Additionally, the deluge caused extensive damage to residential properties, leading to significant financial losses,” Mujahid said.

The Taliban have instructed their Interior Ministry, Disaster Management Ministry and local authorities to “use all available resources” to rescue stranded people, recover corpses and provide medical treatment to the injured, Mujahid added. .

The flash floods add to a series of recent natural disasters that the region has had to endure.

In April, unusual rains and flooding killed more than 100 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, authorities said. More than 600 animals also died.

Flash floods also swept away dozens of people in Afghanistan in July, less than three months before thousands were killed by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the west of the country.