More than 300 dead in floods in one Afghan province

Emergency weather

In Afghanistan’s Baghlan province alone, more than 300 people were killed by flooding on Friday. More than 2,000 homes have also been destroyed. This is what the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. The flash flooding was the result of Friday’s heavy rainfall.

A state of emergency has been declared across northwestern Afghanistan due to the floods, the Taliban-controlled Defense Ministry said. More than 300 people have now been killed in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province. This is reported by the United Nations World Food Program.

The flash flooding was the result of Friday’s heavy rainfall. Based on the available information, the World Food Program can now confirm that 311 people have died in Baghlan, a spokeswoman said. At least 2,011 houses were also destroyed and 2,800 others damaged.

Earlier in the day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) spoke of more than 200 deaths. There are different figures circulating. The Taliban estimate 131 fatalities and more than a hundred injuries. Many people are missing, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior said, without further clarification.

According to Deputy Director Mohammad Khater of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are many casualties because residents often live close to waterways.

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Other Afghan provinces also have to deal with flooding due to the wet spring. The Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, says on X that the floods show that the country is vulnerable to the climate crisis. Since mid-April, around a hundred people have already died in floods in 10 provinces.

Extreme weather events such as floods and drought are increasing in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as a result of the climate crisis, scientists also say. Moreover, after decades of wars and conflicts, Afghanistan has hardly any resources to deal with the consequences of climate change.