KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, now under Taliban control, says that at least 17 people have died and 26 others have been injured due to heavy rainfall and flash floods across the country in the past 24 hours.
In a statement released today (Sunday, March 29), the authority said that the casualties occurred in the provinces of Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Faryab, Daikundi, Ghor, Badghis, Herat, Farah, Laghman, Parwan, Maidan Wardak, and Logar.
The Taliban’s disaster management authority also stated that the rainfall and floods have completely or partially destroyed 147 houses in these provinces.
The authority added that 80 kilometers of roads, 582 jeribs (a traditional unit of land measurement used in Afghanistan, roughly equal to about 2,000 square meters, though it can vary by region) of agricultural land, and 31 wells and water supply networks have also been damaged.
Over the past two days, various provinces across the country have witnessed heavy rainfall and flash floods.
At the end of last week, at least five people were killed and six others were injured due to rainfall and flash floods in the country.
Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, especially during seasonal rains. Limited infrastructure, deforestation, and inadequate disaster preparedness systems have worsened the impact of such events.
In recent years, recurring floods have not only caused loss of life but have also severely affected livelihoods, particularly in rural areas where communities depend heavily on agriculture and lack sufficient resources to recover quickly.
The country’s mountainous regions are particularly prone to sudden flash floods, which often cause casualties and widespread property damage. According to Taliban figures, at least 73 people were killed and over 100 others injured by heavy snow, rain, and subsequent flooding in the past two months, with roads, homes, and other infrastructure severely damaged.
UN data shows that in 2024, heavy rains and floods killed at least 500 people, injured more than 2,000, and affected roughly 80,000 individuals. Over 10,000 homes were either destroyed or damaged, leaving thousands of families displaced.
According to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), climate-related disasters had affected nearly five million people in Afghanistan between January and March 2025. Severe drought, flash floods, harsh winter temperatures, and heavy snowfall had struck multiple regions, worsening the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The report noted that 175,000 people had been displaced within Afghanistan during this period, with 79% of these displacements caused by climate-related hazards, while another 396,000 people had been forced to migrate either internally or across borders due to extreme weather conditions.
With fragile infrastructure and limited emergency resources, Afghanistan remains highly exposed to the growing effects of climate-related disasters.
