KABUL: At least 17 people have been killed and 11 others injured after heavy rains and snowfall triggered flash floods across several parts of Afghanistan, authorities said, as severe weather ended a prolonged dry spell but brought widespread destruction.
Officials said most casualties were reported since Monday in districts hit by flooding across central, northern, southern, and western regions. In western Herat province, five members of the same family, including two children, were killed when the roof of their home collapsed in the Kabkan district, according to provincial authorities.
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said the floods have damaged infrastructure, killed livestock, and affected around 1,800 families, compounding hardship in already vulnerable communities. Assessment teams have been dispatched to the worst-hit areas to evaluate further needs.
Afghanistan, like neighbouring Pakistan and India, is highly exposed to extreme weather events, particularly flash floods following seasonal rains. Decades of conflict, weak infrastructure, deforestation, and the accelerating effects of climate change have heightened the impact of such disasters, especially in remote areas where many homes are built from mud and offer little protection.
Recent flooding in Afghanistan has affected around 1,800 families, forcing at least 219 households to flee their homes and destroying or damaging nearly 800 houses, along with roads, bridges, shops, and more than 2,600 hectares of farmland across at least 11 provinces.
The disaster has deepened an already severe humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning that Afghanistan will remain among the world’s worst through 2026, as climate change, prolonged conflict, deforestation, and weak infrastructure continue to intensify the impact of extreme weather.
