At least 150 dead as heavy rain triggers flash floods

It comes after flooding killed 300 people last week.

At least 150 people have died in Afghanistan after more heavy rain caused flash floods.

The latest round of torrents hit four districts in the northern province of Faryab on Saturday night, leaving 66 dead, five injured and eight missing.

A further 18 people were killed in flooding in the same province on Friday, according to the Taliban.

Around 1,500 homes were either completely or partially destroyed with hundreds of acres of farmlands washed away and more than 300 animals killed.

Meanwhile, 50 people were reported dead from Friday’s floods in the hard-hit western province of Ghor, said authorities.

One resident in Firozkoh, Ghor’s capital, said ‘a huge and horrible flood’ washed away everything.

He and his family ran to safety after being alerted by officials and mosque loudspeakers.

Zahir Zahid told the AFP news agency: ‘I watched the flood destroy my house with my own eyes. Women and children, everyone was crying.’

Last week, the World Food Programme (WFP) said the unusually heavy rains in Afghanistan had killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan.

Huge numbers of people were left with no homes, land or source of livelihood, said the WFP.

The extreme weather comes just weeks after flooding in April killed at least 70, and destroyed 2,000 homes in western Farah and Herat, and southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.

Earlier in the year the country, which relies heavily on agriculture, experienced a long period of drought.

Climate analysts say Afghanistan, both war-ravaged and alienated from the rest of the world since the Taliban took back control in 2021, is one of the least prepared nations to cope with the effects of climate change.

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