Flash floods in Afghanistan, Pakistan kill at least 45 people

At least 45 people have been killed after heavy rains, flash floods and snowfall hit different parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

At least nine people were reportedly killed in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), three killed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and 13 in Balochistan where at least nine districts were affected by the floods, according to Imran Zarkon, head of provincial disaster management authority.

“The spell of rain and snowfall that began on March 2 hit large parts of the province, killing 13 and injuring 12,” Balochistan Minister for Information Zahoor Ahmed Buledi was quoted as saying by Dawn.com. 

Meanwhile, at least 20 people have died in Afghanistan.

In Kandahar province, at least 13 people were killed and more than 1,000 houses, patches of land, schools, mosques and government buildings were damaged, according to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report released on Monday.

Kandahar’s Deputy Governor Abdul Hanan Moneeb said the flooding was the worst in seven years, with many nomadic herders camped in the area swept away by the floodwaters along with their livestock.

Heavy rains caused the Helmand river to overflow in Lashkargah, Nawa-e-Barakzai and Nad-e-Ali districts. At least 350 houses were damaged or destroyed, and 1,200 people affected.

“It has been reported that one woman and four children have died, and a further two children are missing,” OCHA reported. 

As spring approaches, heavy snowfall across Afghanistan has also raised fears of severe flooding, following years of devastating drought in the country.

Nearly 50 people have been killed as of February 12 due to flooding in Afghanistan so far this year, according to the United Nations.