According to the UN, over 300 people die in flash floods in Afghanistan following heavy rain

Flash floods caused by unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 homes, the UN food agency said on Saturday.

The World Food Program said it was distributing fortified cookies to survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan in recent weeks, particularly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of flooding on Friday.

In neighboring Takhar province, state media reported that at least 20 people were killed in the floods.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, posted on social media platform

Mujahid said “extensive devastation” in the northern provinces had resulted in “significant financial losses.”

The Taliban Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the country’s air force had already started evacuating people in Baghlan, rescuing a large number of people stuck in flooded areas and transferring 100 injured people to military hospitals in the region transported.

Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said on

Videos posted on social media showed dozens of people gathering behind the hospital in Baghlan on Saturday to search for their loved ones. An official tells them to start digging graves while their staff prepares the bodies for burial.

Officials previously said at least 70 people died in heavy rains and flash floods in the country in April. Around 2,000 houses, three mosques and four schools were also damaged.

Faiez writes for the Associated Press.