300 people die in northern Afghanistan due to flash floods, according to UN sources.

By : Shrishti Mehra

The United Nations and Taliban authorities reported Saturday that at least 300 people had died in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province as a result of flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains.

According to the United Nations World Food Program, the water destroyed over 1,000 dwellings. It explained that “this has been one of many floods over the last few weeks due to unusually heavy rainfall.”

A top Taliban leader said in a social media video message that Friday’s disaster killed at least 150 people in a single Baghlan area known as Nahreen.

The number of fatalities may increase, according to Ghulam Rasool Qani, who also mentioned that military helicopters had arrived to support local rescue attempts.

https://x.com/WFP_Afghanistan/status/1789238729002918303

According to authorities, rescue personnel are delivering supplies to the most severely affected Baghlan areas. The WFP stated that it was delivering fortified biscuits to the survivors.

The Taliban government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced on social networking site X that flooding has devastated several more northern and western regions, including Badakhshan, Ghor, and Herat.

Mujahid stated, “Unfortunately, hundreds of our fellow citizens have perished in these catastrophic floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries.” “In addition, the flood has severely damaged residential properties, causing substantial financial losses.”

Mujahid stated that the government has asked the Ministry of Disaster Management and other relevant authorities “to mobilize all available resources expeditiously” to rescue victims and transport them to safer places, evacuate bodies, and provide timely medical care to those injured.

“We also implore our fellow citizens to work in tandem with the flood-affected individuals and extend their utmost assistance to the victims of this natural disaster,” Mujahid stated.

Poverty-stricken Heavy rains and flash floods hit 32 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in mid-April, killing over 100 people.

According to foreign aid organizations, the flooding destroyed about 1,000 homes and around 24,000 hectares (59,800 acres) of agricultural land, as well as key infrastructure including roads and bridges and energy supply, which could impede the delivery of humanitarian help.

Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan, offered his sympathies to the families of the victims.

“The floods that have occurred recently in Afghanistan, particularly in Baghlan, are a severe reminder of the country’s susceptibility to the climate crisis. The Taliban and other internal actors must take immediate action in addition to long-term planning,” Bennett wrote on X on Saturday.

An estimated 80% of Afghanistan’s more than 40 million people rely on agriculture for survival. The war-torn South Asian country ranks sixth among the most vulnerable to climate change, which experts blame for the exceptionally strong seasonal rains.

Prior to Friday’s damage, aid workers warned that any extra flooding would harm wide swaths of the Afghan people, which was already suffering from an economic collapse, high levels of starvation, and fighting.

“Three years of successive drought and the harshest winter in 15 years have exacerbated Afghanistan’s hunger crisis at a time when international support is falling,” the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, said in its most recent report, published last week.

According to the research, an estimated 15.3 million Afghans, or 35% of the population, are still experiencing a crisis or worsening food insecurity. “Nearly half of the population lives in poverty and will continue to experience economic hardship,” according to the IRC.

Afghanistan’s economy tanked when the Taliban forcefully seized power in 2021, as the then-internationally supported government crumbled and US-led international forces departed after 20 years of engagement in the Afghan conflict.

The Taliban takeover resulted in the cessation of international development assistance for Afghanistan, and its banking system remains mostly isolated due to terrorism-related concerns, as well as sanctions on Taliban leaders.