Flooding kills 16, destroys 100s of houses in N. Afghanistan

[senorpepr]

KABUL - At least 16 people have been killed and more than 200 houses destroyed in severe flooding in northern Afghanistan, state media reported on Saturday.


Eight people were killed in the northern Badakhshan province and another eight in Baghlan in heavy rainfall this week that also affected Samangan province, state news agency Bakhtar reported.

Flooding also damaged around 200 hectares (500 acres) of farmland, killed around 300 livestock and destroyed about 226 houses and a couple of mosques, it said.

People in the north of the country, especially in Badakhshan’s Roy Doab district, are desperate for government and international aid, the news agency said.

South Asia is battling its worst flooding in nearly two decades, with hundreds of people left dead and millions stranded across the region.

Bangladesh, eastern India and Nepal have been particularly badly affected by monsoon rains that have lashed the region since mid-June, displacing around 21.5 million people.

Afghanistan has suffered long years of drought which forced people to migrate internally or move to neighbouring countries. While rainfall has improved conditions in the north of the country, the south and east are still too dry for substantial crop cultivation.

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