Floods in Afghanistan leave 315 dead

NAHRIN, Afghanistan — Flash floods caused by heavy rains have devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 people and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday, as villagers buried their dead and aid agencies warned of widening havoc.

Thousands of homes were damaged and livestock wiped out, the refugee ministry said, while aid groups warned of damage to health care facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supplies.

Many people were missing after heavy rains on Friday sent roaring rivers of water and mud crashing through villages and across agricultural land in several provinces, causing what one aid group described as a "major humanitarian emergency".

Survivors picked through muddy, debris-littered streets and damaged buildings on Saturday, as authorities and NGOs deployed rescue workers and aid, warning that some areas had been cut off by the flooding.

In the Nahrin district of Baghlan Province, people carried their shrouded dead to a gravesite.

"We have no food, no drinking water, no shelter, no blankets, nothing at all. Floods have destroyed everything," said Muhammad Yahqoob, who told of losing 13 members of his family, children among them.

Economy Minister Din Mohammad Hanif urged the United Nations, humanitarian agencies and private businesses to provide support for those hit by the floods.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X: "Hundreds of our fellow citizens have succumbed to these calamitous floods."

The deluge "has wrought extensive devastation upon residential properties, resulting in significant financial losses", he added.

The refugee ministry said Sunday's latest tally 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.

Torrential rains caused heavy damage in Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan, as well as western Ghor and Herat provinces, officials said, in a country wracked by poverty and heavily dependent on agriculture.

Emergency personnel rushed to rescue injured and stranded Afghans.

The air force said it had started evacuation operations as skies cleared on Saturday, adding that more than 100 injured people had been transferred to hospital.

UN chief Antonio Guterres "expresses his solidarity with the people of Afghanistan (and) extends his condolences to the families of the victims", his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that the UN was working with local authorities on providing assistance.

Agencies Via Xinhua