At least 39 people, including nine children, have been killed since July 5, across five provinces, due to flash flooding in Afghanistan, as per the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Incidences of flash flooding increased in the past week with in the east, south, south-east, and central regions of the country. The heavy rains have damaged or destroyed around 2,900 houses, a tenfold increase since the last reporting period, and also disrupted livelihoods.
OCHA said that the affected families need emergency shelter, non-food items, food and water, sanitation, and hygiene support.
Critical civilian infrastructure such as roads and bridges have also been impacted. The rains have caused land to slide, exposing unexploded ordnance from four decades of war and conflict, which are transported into several villages of Paktia. This risk will increase as heavy rains continue, OCHA said. Reportedly, the controlled explosions of the mines helped prevent further casualties, OCHA said.
Twenty people have been reported dead in Uruzgan; six in Ghazni; seven in Nuristan; three in Paktia and three in Zabul.