AFGHANISTAN: Deadly floods, avalanches hit Afghanistan

Floods and avalanches have killed scores of people in Afghanistan as heavy rains destroyed villages, flooded farmland and drove hundreds of people from their homes, officials have said. Heavy flooding has killed at least seven people in Afghanistan, destroyed houses and made several hundred more homeless, officials said on Sunday (March 31). The waters also destroyed thousands of hectares of land and washed away or damaged key bridges in several parts of the country including the capital, Kabul. "The flooding started overnight. When we woke up in the morning we saw it was getting worse and worse and as you can see, thousands of houses have been destroyed by the floods," said Haji Wahed, a resident of Kabul whose house was destroyed in the flooding. At least 30 people died in the central Afghan province of Daikundi and seven in Herat, in the west, on Saturday. Another 11 died elsewhere in the country, government officials said. The floods destroyed a bridge on the outskirts of the capital Kabul which connects the city to the Kandahar highway. "People are facing problems because of the floods. The bridges have been destroyed and Karzai does not care about the poor residents. People are crossing this bridge with great difficulty," said one resident, Khan Wali, who believes the government is not doing enough to end the crisis. Rains also caused avalanches and landslides in northeast Afghanistan, where nearly 20 people died last week. The rains have been the heaviest for years in drought-stricken, mountainous Afghanistan.

ITN Source | April 1, 2007

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