Flash Floods Kill 20 in Afghanistan, More Than 100 Reported Missing

Qatar News Agency

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods in northeastern ​Afghanistan.

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday, the Taliban-run government said.

The death toll was expected to rise, with ⁠100 people still missing on Monday night, according to a Reuters report.

Most of the damage was reported from Parun, the capital of Nuristan, the Taliban's National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. At least 80 people were injured, according to the authority.

Taliban officials said Monday evening that they had launched a search and rescue operation ‌in ⁠the remote province on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Rescuers feared "severe financial and human losses," the National Disaster Management Authority said.

Afghanistan is among the nations most vulnerable to the impacts ⁠of climate change, which has made some parts of the country more drought-prone and exposed others to more rainfall.

Deforestation ⁠in Nuristan and other provinces has further worsened flash floods in recent decades because it has ⁠slowed the absorption of rainwater into the soil.

Source: Reuters



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