50 killed, dozens missing after flooding in Afghanistan’s Ghor province

CNN —

Fifty people were killed and dozens are missing after heavy rains and flooding in Afghanistan’s province of Ghor on Friday, according to the Afghan Ministry of Refugees.

The Ministry said in a post on X on Saturday that 2,000 homes had been completely destroyed and up to 4,000 partially destroyed by recent flooding.

“Hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of Bridges, culverts, dams, hundreds of thousands of productive and non-productive trees were destroyed, thousands of cattle were destroyed,” the ministry added.

“With heavy hearts, we mourn the loss of our fellow Afghans who tragically lost their lives in the recent floods in the province of Ghor,” government spokesperson Zabihullah Mojahid wrote in a post on X.

Hundreds of people have been killed by flash flooding in Afghanistan over the past several weeks, according to the UN.

Areas in northern Afghanistan have been ravaged by the heavy floods, including the provinces of Ghor, Badakhshan, Baghlan, and Herat.

The ruling Taliban acknowledged the “grievous toll” caused by the flooding in a statement posted last Saturday on X by spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.

The flash floods add to a string of recent natural disasters that the region has had to endure. In April, unseasonal rainfall and floods killed more than 100 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to authorities. More than 600 animals also died.

Flash floods also swept away dozens in Afghanistan in July, less than three months before thousands were killed by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the western part of the country.