Flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan kill at least 68 people | Wilnesh News

Flash floods triggered by heavy seasonal rains have killed at least 68 people in Afghanistan, Taliban officials said on Saturday, adding that the death toll was based on initial reports.

Afghanistan experiences unusually heavy seasonal rainfall.

Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the provincial governor, said 50 deaths were reported in the worst-hit western province of Ghor. He also said Friday’s flooding damaged thousands of homes and properties and destroyed hundreds of hectares of farmland, causing huge economic losses in the province, including in the provincial capital Ferozco.

Meanwhile, Elsmatullah Moradi, spokesman for the governor of northern Farayab province, said 18 people were killed and two injured in the province on Friday. He added that property and land were damaged in four areas and more than 300 animals were killed.

The United Nations food agency posted on the social media platform X that Ghor was the area most affected by the floods, with 2,500 families affected. WFP assessment teams are deploying assistance on the ground, the post said.

The Taliban government’s chief spokesman posted on and humanitarian organizations providing assistance to affected communities.

Torrential rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of homes, mostly in the northern Baghlan province, which was hit by floods on May 10, the WFP said last week.

The World Food Organization said the survivors had no homes, no land and no source of livelihood.The WFP said much of Baghlan was “inaccessible to trucks”, adding that it was pursuing all conceivable alternatives to deliver food to survivors

The latest disaster follows devastating floods in April that killed at least 70 people. Flooding also destroyed about 2,000 houses, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and western Herat provinces, and in southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.