By Sayed Hassib
KABUL, March 30 (Reuters) – Heavy rain that triggered severe flooding and caused buildings to collapse killed 45 people and injured 74 in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last five days, authorities said on Monday, with Kabul also warning of continued risks from bad weather.
Most of the deaths in war-shattered Afghanistan were reported from the central and eastern provinces, including Parwan, Maidan Wardak, Daykundi and Logar, where torrential rain triggered flash floods and landslides, completely destroying 130 homes, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
Conditions remained “unstable” in parts of the country on Monday, with continued risk of further rain and flooding in some areas, it said.
“In total, 1,140 families have been affected,” NDMA said in a statement.
In Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which shares a border with Afghanistan, at least 17 people, including 14 children, were killed and 25 injured as heavy rainfall caused roofs and walls of houses to collapse, the province’s disaster management authority said.
The United Nations lists both Pakistan and Afghanistan among the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change.
A fierce monsoon season last year caused devastation in Pakistan, killing almost 1,000 people and destroying crops, livestock and homes.
A United Nations Development Programme report in November said earthquakes, floods, and drought had similarly destroyed 8,000 homes in Afghanistan in 2025 and strained public services “beyond their limits”.
With international aid, which formed the backbone of the Afghan government’s finances, slashed since the Taliban seized power in 2021, the country has been struggling to cope.
(Reporting by Sayed Hassib in Kabul, Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Keith Weir)
Comments