WFP: "Over 300 Dead in Northern Afghanistan Floods"... Authorities Declare State of Emergency

Death Toll Fluctuates... IMO "About 200" · Local Government "About 150"
Many Missing, Deaths May Increase... "Afgan, Very Vulnerable to Climate Change"

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the death toll from recent floods in northern Afghanistan has reached around 300.

Flood-affected area in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan.

According to AFP on the 12th (local time), heavy rains fell on the 10th in some northern provinces, including Baghlan Province, causing floods.

Rana Deraz, the communications officer for WFP's Afghanistan office, told AFP the previous day that the death toll in Baghlan Province, the hardest-hit area, was counted at 311. Deraz also added that about 2,000 houses were completely destroyed and around 2,800 houses were partially damaged in Baghlan Province.

However, the death toll varies depending on the reporting agency, so the exact count remains to be seen. Regarding the death toll in Baghlan Province, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported 218 deaths, while Abdul Martin Khani, spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, stated 131 deaths. Khani explained that the government's death toll could increase as many people are still missing. He also added that 20 and 2 people died in the neighboring Takhar Province and Badakhshan Province, respectively.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense declared a state of emergency in the flood-affected areas and began rescuing the injured and isolated residents, while supplying food and medicine to the displaced. The Air Force reported that it transported about 100 injured people to hospitals using helicopters and other means.

United Nations Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres expressed solidarity with the Afghan people regarding this situation and conveyed condolences to the families of the victims, according to the UN. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), an international humanitarian relief organization, said it is preparing to support Afghanistan and emphasized that this flood should serve as a "wake-up call" to world leaders and donors not to forget Afghanistan, which has been devastated by decades of conflict and natural disasters.

In mid-last month, floods caused by heavy rains occurred in 10 provinces in Afghanistan, resulting in about 100 deaths. AFP explained that Afghanistan's winters are relatively dry, so when sudden heavy rains fall in spring, the ground cannot absorb the water, causing floods, and that Afghanistan is a country highly vulnerable to climate change.