ALBAWABA - According to Afghan authorities, the heavy territorial rains and floods have killed at least 400 people so far.
Tolo News reported, citing Faryab Governorate spokesperson Ismetullah Muradi, that at least 18 people died in floods in Afghanistan's Faryab region, which borders Turkmenistan, while 400 people died in recent weeks in floods triggered by heavy rains in the country's northern provinces.
Muradi told Tolo News that in addition to the massive number of lives lost in the devastating floods, more than 2,000 hectares of agricultural land have been severely damaged, over 1,000 homes demolished and more than 300 animals have perished.
In the Ghor province alone, at least 50 people have reportedly lost their lives, while dozens of others were missing due to the flooding that took over several parts of the country.
Ghor police spokesman Abdul Rahman Badri, stated the number of casualties is still expected to rise in the upcoming days. "These terrible floods have also killed thousands of cattle … They have destroyed hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of bridges and culverts, and destroyed thousands of trees," Badri said.
According to preliminary reports, scores of people are missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, the regional governor's spokesman. Mawlawi Abdul Hai Zaeem, head of Ghor's information department, stated that the new wet spell began on Friday, closing off numerous vital highways to the area.
He stated that 2,000 dwellings were completely demolished, 4,000 were partially damaged, and more than 2,000 shops were submerged in Firoz Koh, the province's seat.
People displaced by previous floods lacked enough humanitarian relief. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), survivors have lost their homes, land, and means of survival. The majority of Baghlan, the north's worst-hit region, was "inaccessible by trucks," according to the World Food Programme.
Khushnid Sattarov of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that the agency was collaborating with Afghan and international NGOs to analyze the situation on the ground.
