Monsoon-driven flash flooding kills at least 20 in Afghanistan

Rescue teams are racing to reach Nuristan province as devastation continues across the region.

At least 20 people have been killed after monsoon-driven flash floods struck Afghanistan’s eastern Nuristan province.

Disaster officials and the governor’s office reported that the floods hit on Monday, destroying houses and shops in the province’s main city, Parun. The monsoon has wreaked havoc across the region in recent weeks, killing dozens of people in India and Nepal.

At least 20 bodies have been recovered and more than 80 people were injured, according to the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA).

The casualties were reported in Parun and other areas of Nuristan, which borders Pakistan. The mayor of the provincial capital as well as several regional employees were among the missing, the governor’s office said.

Officials from the provincial disaster management department have launched search-and-rescue operations, including efforts to recover bodies and locate the missing.

Ashiqullah Safi, head of local NGO Shpoul, told the AFP news agency the flood had “completely destroyed the municipality”.

Hotels and dozens of shops were reportedly destroyed, and residents were searching the debris-strewn area without proper equipment, he said, after the floodwaters left large boulders scattered through the town.

Flooding is common in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province during monsoon season [File: AP Photo]

Afghanistan, like neighbouring Pakistan and India, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, particularly flash floods following seasonal rains.

This year’s monsoon season has sparked chaos across South Asia since June, with heavy rains triggering floods and landslides in country after country.

Floods and landslides were reported on Monday to have killed at least 25 people across northern and northeastern India. Parun is located 465km (290 miles) from Jammu, where a flash flood caused extensive damage.

In neighbouring Nepal, monsoon-related floods, landslides and lightning strikes have killed 27 people, left one missing and injured 69 others since mid-June, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said.

The head of Afghanistan’s environmental protection agency, Mawlawi Matiul Haq Khalis, said this month that flooding in the country had increased, warning that environmental problems have “contributed to a humanitarian crisis”.