ISLAMABAD (AP) — Flash floods caused by seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed hundreds of people and injured a “substantial number,” a Taliban official said Saturday, without giving exact figures.
The floods mainly affected the northern region of the country. Baghlan province was hit hard by the floods on Friday. Officials said at least 50 people were killed and property destroyed in several districts.
In neighboring Takhar province, state media reported that the floods killed at least 20 people.
Zabihullah Mujahidthe Taliban government’s chief spokesperson posted on social media platform
Mujahid underlined that the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat are the worst affected. He added that “the extensive destruction” has resulted in “significant financial losses.”
He also said that the government had directed to mobilize all available resources to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the bodies of the deceased.
The Taliban Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the country’s air force has already started evacuating people in Baghlan and has so far rescued a large number of people trapped in the flooded area and sent a hundred injured people to military hospitals in had transported the region.
Officials previously said that at least 70 people were killed by heavy rains and flash floods in the country in April, before Friday’s floods. About 2,000 houses, three mosques and four schools were also damaged.
