Kabul, May 6 (EFE).- At least 14 people have lost their lives due to flash floods caused by heavy rains across Afghanistan in recent days, a Taliban government official said on Monday.

“In the last three days, 14 people have died and one person is missing due to heavy rains and flash floods,” National Disaster Management Ministry spokesperson Janan Sayeq told EFE.

The torrential downpours and ensuing flash floods have affected at least 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, including Herat and Farah in the west, Laghman in the east, Uruzgan in the south, Khost in the southeast, and Sar-e Pul in the north.

Additionally, over the past 72 hours, the floods have destroyed over 140 houses and killed over 2,000 heads of livestock in rural areas of the country, the official said.

Several roads in mountainous provinces, such as in Badakhshan, Nuristan and Kunar, were temporarily closed due to rainstorms, floods, and landslides.

After a dry winter, Afghanistan has witnessed heavy snowfall, intense rains, and flash floods in recent months, resulting in over 130 deaths, and the destruction of thousands of homes, according to official data.

The Asian country is among the most vulnerable nations in the world to climate change and the least prepared to respond to natural disasters, according to a recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The situation has been further exacerbated by a significant decrease in international assistance and the freezing of the country’s foreign assets amid an ongoing economic crisis, particularly after the Taliban assumed power in August 2021. EFE

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