Over 100 dead, thousands left homeless by Afghan floods

More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial authorities.

Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at the start of spring.

Deputy governor of western Afghan province, Badghis, Qamaruddin Shekeb, said that at least 100 people have been killed in the floods.

“In Jawzjan, up to 100 people, including women and children, have been killed, while in Faryab 40 and in Sar-e-Pul between 10 to 15 people are killed,” Shekeb told Tolo News.

In Jawzjan, a northern province, police chief Faqer Mohammad Jawzjani said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead would increase over the coming days.

“There are many others who are still missing,” Head of Jawzjan Provincial Disaster Management group, Azizurrahman Emaq, told local Afghan news agency, Tolo News.

“There are more than 5,000 people who are displaced.”

The governor of neighboring Faryab province said dozens had been killed and another 80 were missing.

"Ten thousand families have been affected and more than 2,000 houses have been destroyed," Mohammadullah Batazhn said.

Aid has not yet been sent to affected areas, Faryab MP Asifa Shadan told Tolo News, and officials fear the number of casualties could rise.

“I call on the national and international charity organizations to support the victims of this natural disaster.”

Al Jazeera and Reuters