Heavy flash flooding claim lives of 178 people in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, at least 178 people have lost their lives as a result of devastating flash floods during the past four weeks, an official said on Wednesday.

Another 250 were wounded in the heavy rainfalls and flash floods that severely affected 13 of the country's 34 provinces, a spokesman of the Taliban's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Nasim Haqqani, told dpa.

In addition, more than 3,000 residential houses were partially or completely damaged, thousands of acres of land destroyed and hundreds of livestock perished, the official added.

"People need more aid because they have experienced huge financial and human losses, Haqqani said. "They have lost everything."

The Taliban, which have controlled the country since August last year, claim they have provided emergency aid to the victims and used military helicopters to rescue trapped people during the flooding.

However, there are increasing reports of injustices in the aid distribution process. While the NDMA claims to simply prioritize the neediest areas, sources accuse the country's de facto government of mainly giving aid to its supporters.

The floods hit Afghanistan only a few months after the country experienced one of its deadliest earthquakes in the past decades.

Seasonal flooding occurs every year in Afghanistan, but has been unusually heavy in recent weeks. Flash floods usually catch people by surprise as there is no alarm system in the mountainous country.

Decades of conflict, coupled with environmental degradation and insufficient investment in disaster risk reduction have contributed to the increasing vulnerability of Afghans to natural disasters, according to the United Nations.

On average, natural disasters affect 200,000 people every year in the war-torn country.