KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 12 people, many of them women and children, were killed and seven others injured when heavy rains caused the roofs of multiple houses to collapse in eastern Afghanistan, according to local sources and Taliban authorities.
In Kunar province, three children died and three others were wounded after the roof of a house collapsed in Chapa Dara district on Tuesday, local sources reported.
In Nangarhar province, nine people, including women and children, were killed and four others injured when the roofs of several houses collapsed in Jalalabad city and Haska Mina district on Monday night, according to local Taliban authorities. Authorities said the injured were transferred to nearby health centers for treatment.
The incidents are the latest in a series of deadly house collapses linked to weeks of heavy rainfall, flash floods and snowfall across many parts of the country, which have affected more than 20 provinces and left dozens killed or injured, mostly women and children.
Homes in rural Afghanistan are often constructed with mud, straw, and other traditional materials that are highly vulnerable to prolonged rain and snow. Weak construction practices and limited enforcement of safety standards are cited by authorities as key factors behind the high casualty rates in such incidents.
The latest fatalities add to a rising death toll from severe weather events across Afghanistan. Over the past ten days, heavy rainfall and flash floods have killed at least 110 people and injured around 160, according to Taliban figures. Thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, large areas of agricultural land have been affected, and thousands of families displaced.
