5 months ago
22
Flash floods in northern Afghanistan have killed hundreds of people the Taliban authorities said on Saturday, without giving a more precise figure.
And they also injured a “substantial number,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government said in a post on the social media platform X:
"Hundreds ... have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries,” he wrote.
Mujahid said the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat were the worst hit. He added that “the extensive devastation” has resulted in “significant financial losses.”
He also said the government had ordered all available resources mobilised to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the bodies of the deceased.
The floods have mostly hit the northern region of the country. The province of Baghlan bore the brunt of the deluges on Friday with officials at first reporting at least 50 people dead and properties destroyed in multiple districts.
In neighbouring Takhar province, state-owned media outlets reported that the floods killing at least 20 people.
The Taliban defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the air force has already begun evacuating people in Baghlan and has so far rescued a "large number of people." It also said it's transported around a hundred injured people to military hospitals in the region.
Officials previously said that in April, before Friday's floods, at least 70 people died from heavy rains and flash flooding in the country. About 2,000 homes, three mosques, and four schools were also damaged.
