More than 300 people die in northern Afghanistan due to floods, according to the UN

At least 300 people have died and more than a thousand houses have been destroyed due to heavy flooding in Baghlan province, northern Afghanistan, the United Nations Food Program (WFP) said this Saturday. This agency, dependent on the UN, attributed the deaths to “unusually” heavy rains in recent weeks and stated that it is distributing food to survivors.

The interim Taliban government reduced the number of deaths for the moment to 153 in several provinces. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said: “The number of victims is high although, so far and based on initial information, 153 people have been killed and hundreds have been injured, although the death toll could increase.” According to data provided by the Taliban, 131 people died in Baghlan, 21 in neighboring Takhar and another 2 in Badakhshan.

The Afghan Ministry of Disaster Management also indicated that the provinces of Samangan, Faryab, Herat or Ghor were also affected, although it did not reveal data on the number of deaths. “Unfortunately, hundreds of our fellow citizens have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a considerable number have suffered injuries, we have ordered the competent authorities to mobilize all available resources to carry out rescue operations,” said the main spokesperson. of the fundamentalists, Zabiullah Mujahid, in a statement.

Afghanistan has witnessed heavy snowfall, heavy rain and flash floods in recent weeks. The Asian country is one of the most vulnerable in the world to climate change and the least prepared to adapt, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Adding to the vulnerable situation is the interruption of much of the international aid and the freezing of the country’s funds, after the Taliban took power in August 2021. In July 2021, at least 260 people died after a series of floods caused by heavy rains in the Nuristan region, then controlled by the Taliban, despite the fact that they had not yet taken over the entire country.