According to the United Nations, more than 300 people die in flash floods in northern Afghanistan after 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.

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 is busy preparing bodies for burial.

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

Mujahid identified Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat provinces as the most affected. He added that “the extensive devastation” had resulted in “significant financial losses.”

He said the government had ordered to mobilize all available resources to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the dead.

The floods came as Afghanistan was still reeling from a series of earthquakes earlier in the year and severe flooding in March, said Salma Ben Aissa, Afghanistan director of the International Rescue Committee.

“Communities have lost entire families while livelihoods have been decimated as a result,” she said. “This should be an alarm signal to world leaders and international donors: we call on them not to forget Afghanistan in these turbulent global times.”

The IRC said that in addition to the fatalities, infrastructure including roads and power lines were also destroyed in Baghlan, Ghor, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Samangan, Badghis and Takhar provinces. It said the agency was preparing to expand its emergency response in affected areas.

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 transporting 100 injured people to military hospitals in the region.

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

At least 70 people died in April due to heavy rains and flash floods in the country. Around 2,000 houses, three mosques and four schools were also damaged.