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At least ۲۰ people have been killed and more than ۸۰ injured in flooding that hit Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, the country’s disaster management agency said on Monday.
In Parun, the provincial capital, a further ۱۰۵ people including the mayor were missing, said Feraidon Samim, a spokesperson for the Nuristan governor.
Journalists familiar with the remote north-eastern area said a market, shops and other buildings were located near Parun’s riverside.
Ashiqullah Safi, the head of an NGO based in the town, said the flood had “completely destroyed the municipality”, including hotels and dozens of shops.
He added that flood waters had left big boulders in the town and residents were searching for the missing without equipment.
Afghanistan’s national disaster management agency said floods had caused “severe financial and human losses” in Parun, where efforts were under way to rescue the injured and recover the bodies of those killed.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesperson for the Afghan government, posted on X to confirm reports of deaths and property damage in Nuristan.
Earlier this month, the head of Afghanistan’s environmental protection agency, Matiul Haq Khalis, said flooding in the country had increased.
He said environmental problems “have severely affected the Afghan people and have contributed to a humanitarian crisis in the country”.
Extreme rainfall has become more common and more intense across most of the world because of the human-caused climate crisis. This is because warmer air can hold more water vapour, leading to more severe downpours.
