Afghanistan death toll from floods rises to 40

KABUL — The death toll from rainstorms and flooding in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province has risen to 40 and the number of injured has reached 347, the country's Ministry of Public Health reported on Tuesday.

Health workers were dispatched to the affected areas to treat the injured, said Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, spokesman for the ministry, adding that the casualties in the tragedy are expected to rise.

The tragedy took place on Monday afternoon and caused heavy fatalities and financial damages in the provincial capital Jalalabad, Surkh Rod district and neighboring areas in the province bordering Pakistan.

Similarly, five people were killed as flash floods swept away most parts of eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province on Monday morning.

Images on Monday shared by the Ministry of Information and Culture showed medical personnel wearing white and blue uniforms giving treatment to the wounded.

Other pictures on social media showed battered buildings and power masts.

Nangarhar authorities said on X that 400 houses were damaged, while electricity was out of service in Jalalabad.

They added that several citizens had donated blood at the hospital to support recovery efforts.

A camp at the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan, built for Afghans returning to the country, was particularly devastated as tents were swept away.

"We share the grief of the families of the victims," Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Taliban government, said.

"The relevant institutions of the Islamic Emirate have been directed to go to the affected areas as soon as possible," Mujahid wrote on X, adding that the government would provide shelter, food and medicine to displaced families.

The tragedy comes after flash floods killed hundreds of people in Afghanistan in May and swamped agricultural lands in the country, where 80 percent of the population depend on farming to survive.

Among the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change.

This year, it saw an unusually wet spring after an extremely dry winter.

Xinhua - Agencies