At least 300 people killed by flash floods in Afghanistan as humanitarian emergency looms

CNN —

At least 300 people have died in flash flooding that has ravaged northern Afghanistan in recent days, the Word Food Programme said Sunday.

The provinces of Badakhshan, Ghor, Baghlan, and Herat have all experienced heavy flooding, which has also damaged nearly 2,000 homes, a communications officer from UN agency the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement a day earlier.

“Flash floods ravage Afghanistan, killing more than 300 people in Baghlan and destroying more than 1000 houses,” the WFP said in a post on X. “This has been one of many floods over the last few weeks, due to unusually heavy rainfall. WFP is now distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors.”

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which is preparing its emergency response to the flooding that spans seven provinces, said “thousands” of people have been stranded without access to services.

“These latest floods have caused a major humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, which is still reeling from a string of earthquakes at the beginning of this year as well as severe flooding in March,” said IRC Afghanistan director Salma Ben Aissa.

“Communities have lost entire families, while livelihoods have been decimated as a result,” she said.

An Afghan man walks near his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province Saturday.

More than half of the 600,000 people affected by the floods are children, Save the Children reported in a statement, adding that it is sending a “a ‘clinic on wheels’ with mobile health and child protection teams to support children and their families.”

On Saturday, video captured by news agency Reuters showed mourners burying the dead in Baghlan province. One man named Gulbudeen described