Flash floods have killed at least 32 people in western Afghanistan, destroyed homes and swept through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said on Saturday.
Flooding caused by heavy rains started spreading on Thursday and left a trail of devastation across seven provinces, said Hasibullah Shir Khani, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.
Another 12 people were missing and more than 700 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, he added.
The floods worsen an already desperate situation. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced in the region by last year’s severe drought and the 17-year-long war with the Taliban.
Floods in early March caused further destruction and put this year’s wheat harvest at risk.
“My house and my farmland have been destroyed by floods. If you go and see the destruction it makes you cry,” said Shir Ahmad, who lives in a village in Herat province, which borders Iran.
Children waded through muddy, knee-deep floodwaters that flowed through tent camps for displaced people after the rain stopped. Some families strung salvageable clothes and bedding to dry.
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