KABUL (Al Jazeera): Several provinces across the eastern, central, southern and western regions of Afghanistan have been hit by heavy rains, resulting in flash floods and landslides that have caused the deaths of more than 180 people, displaced at least 8,000 others and damaged at least 3,000 houses.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the provinces of Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktia and Parwan have been the hardest hit.
The UN OCHA – in its latest update – said that in this month alone, at least 118 people died due to flash floods. Several provinces of Afghanistan have faced heavy rains and floods in recent weeks. At least 20 people have been killed and 30 others injured in Logar province.
Afghanistan has been reeling from natural disasters this year, including a drought and a devastating earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people in June. The nation has been largely cut off from the international financial system since the Taliban took over a year ago.
Mullah Sharafuddin Muslim, deputy minister of state for disaster management of the Taliban government, told reporters that the floods have caused major loss of life and assets.
Speaking at a news conference on August 27, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansour, acting minister of energy and water, said that “750 cisterns, 329 small dams, and 441 major water channels were damaged in recent flooding across the country.”
The acting minister of agriculture, irrigation and livestock, Mullah Ataullah Omari, said almost 600,000 acres (24,281 hectares) of land remains flooded and “cannot be used”. The Taliban officials said that the country is currently experiencing a “humanitarian crisis” and appealed for more international aid.
Feroz Khan, resident of Khoshi district in Logar province, told Al Jazeera that four days ago he was at home with his family when the floods hit.
“We were just having lunch when the flood struck. We were helpless and did not know what to do. The walls of my house crumbled, and water poured in my home, and took away our things,” he said.
“We forgot everything and just tried to run out and save our lives,” he said, adding that the deluge swept away livestock as well.
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