More than 150 killed in Afghanistan flash floods, government says
Al Jazeera
Thousands of houses have been destroyed or damaged in the worst-hit northern province of Baghlan.
At least 151 people have been killed in flash floods in northern Afghanistan triggered by torrential rains, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior Affairs has said.
On Saturday, ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani put the number of injured at 135 people, the Reuters news agency reported.
Heavy rains on Friday led to flooding in several areas of the country, with fears of the death toll rising.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government, said in a social media post on Saturday that “hundreds … have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries”.
Apart from Baghlan in the north, the provinces of Badakhshan in the northeast, central Ghor and western Herat were also heavily affected, he wrote on X, adding that “the extensive devastation” had resulted in “significant financial losses”.