Authorities in the central region expect the toll to rise as rising waters destroy thousands of homes.
At least 50 people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed after a new episode of heavy rains and flooding in central Afghanistan, authorities confirmed.
Flash floods caused by seasonal torrential rains have devastated a wide swath of territory across Afghanistan for weeks, killing hundreds of people, injuring thousands and destroying homes and communities.
At least 50 people were confirmed dead in Ghor province, police spokesman Abdul Rahman Badri said on Saturday, adding that he expected the death toll to rise.
“These terrible floods have also killed thousands of livestock… They have destroyed hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of bridges and culverts, and destroyed thousands of trees,” he said.
According to preliminary reports, dozens of people are missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the Ghor provincial governor.
Mawlawi Abdul Hai Zaeem, head of Ghor's information department, said the latest wave of rain began on Friday, cutting off many key roads into the area.
It said 2,000 houses were completely destroyed, 4,000 partially damaged and more than 2,000 shops were underwater in the provincial capital, Firoz Koh.
Last week, the Taliban's Refugee Ministry said the death toll from flooding in northern Afghanistan had risen to 315, with more than 1,600 injured.
Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters and is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change by the United Nations.
On Wednesday, a helicopter used by the Afghan Air Force crashed due to “technical problems” during attempts to recover the bodies of people who had fallen into a river in Ghor, killing one person and injuring 12, the Ministry of Defense said. Defending.
People displaced in previous floods lacked adequate humanitarian aid. Survivors have been left homeless, landless and without a source of livelihood, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said.
Most of Baghlan, the worst-affected northern province, was “inaccessible to trucks,” the WFP said.
