Afghanistan Flash Floods: UN Reports Over 300 Deaths From Heavy Rains

The UN food agency says more than 300 Afghans have died in flash floods that also destroyed more than 1,000 houses in the northern province of Baghlan.

The World Food Agency said Saturday it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan over the last few weeks following unusually heavy rainfall.

Flash floods from seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed hundreds of people and injured a "substantial number," a Taliban official said Saturday, without giving exact figures.

The floods hit mostly the northern region of the country. The province of Baghlan bore the brunt of the deluges Friday with officials preliminary reporting at least 50 people dead and properties destroyed in multiple districts.

In neighboring Takhar province, state-owned media outlets reported the floods killed at least 20 people.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government, posted on the social media platform X that "hundreds ... have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries."

1/6: پېښو ته د رسېدنې عالي امارتي کمېسیون فوق‌العاده غونډه جوړه شوه
د ریاست الوزراء اقتصادي مرستیال په مشرۍ پېښو ته د رسېدنې عالي امارتي کمېسیون فوق‌العاده غونډه نن شنبه د روان ۱۴۰۳ لمریز کال ثور میاشتې په۲۲مه نېټه په مرمرینه ماڼۍ کې جوړه او په هېواد کې د وروستیو سېلابونو له امله pic.twitter.com/ef4k33sGaP

— د ریاست الوزراء اقتصادي معاونیت (@FDPM_AFG) May 11, 2024

Mujahid identified the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat as the worst hit. He added that "the extensive devastation" has resulted in "significant financial losses."

1/7: Islamic Emirates High Commission for Disaster Management Holds Emergency Session

An emergency session of the High Commission for Disaster Management of the Islamic Emirate convened today, Saturday, May 11, at Marmarin Palace, chaired by the Deputy PM for Economic Affairs. pic.twitter.com/61eUqD0OTP

— د ریاست الوزراء اقتصادي معاونیت (@FDPM_AFG) May 11, 2024

He said the government had ordered all available resources mobilized to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the dead.

The Taliban Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the country's air force has already begun evacuating people in Baghlan and has rescued a large number of people stuck in flooded areas and transported 100 injured people to military hospitals in the region.

Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said on X that the floods are a stark reminder of Afghanistan's vulnerability to the climate crisis and that both immediate aid and long-term planning by the Taliban and international actors are needed.

Recent floods in #Afghanistan including #Baghlan which claimed many lives, are a stark reminder of Afghanistan’s vulnerability to the #climatecrisis & both immediate aid and long term planning by the #Taliban & internat actors are needed. Condolences to the families of vicitims.

— UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett (@SR_Afghanistan) May 11, 2024

Videos posted on social media showed dozens of people gathered Saturday behind the hospital in Baghlan looking for their loved ones. An official tells them that they should go and start digging graves while their staff are busy with preparing bodies for the burial ceremony.

Officials previously said that in April 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.