climate
Extreme weather: at least 40 dead in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Civil protection confirmed that more than 30 people had died in the floods in Afghanistan in the past 72 hours. photo
© NDMA
Massive water kills dozens of people in the Afghan province of Maidan Wardak – more are missing. The flood surprises many in their sleep.
In the Pakistani province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa there was heavy rain with strong winds and thunderstorms over the weekend, as the newspaper “Dawn” reported. Landslides damaged roads and buildings. More than 100 people have died in the South Asian country since the monsoon rains began at the end of June.
The flash floods in Afghanistan, which killed at least 31 people, caused severe damage to buildings. In the province of Maidan Wardak, numerous residents were killed in their sleep by masses of water. According to the civil protection agency, dozens more people are missing. Hundreds of houses in a total of eight affected provinces are said to have been damaged or destroyed.
Severe weather extremes occur again and again in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both countries are suffering greatly from the consequences of climate change. After several decades of war and conflict, Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. For almost two years now, Afghanistan has once again been ruled by the militant Islamist Taliban. Record floods in the monsoon season temporarily submerged a third of Pakistan in 2022, killing around 1,700 people.