An official said about 20 houses were destroyed or severely damaged (representative image)
Landslides triggered by heavy snowfall in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province have killed 25 people and injured eight others, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Ministry said on Monday.
Mud, snow and debris swept through the village of Nakre in Nuristan’s Tatin Valley on Sunday night.
“Landslides have killed around 25 people and injured eight others,” spokesman Janan Sayeq said in a video clip shared with the media.
Sayek also told AFP the death toll was likely to rise.
Nuristan Province borders Pakistan and is mostly covered by mountain forests, right next to the southern end of the Hindu Kush Mountains.
Heavy snow also hampered rescue efforts, provincial officials said.
“Helicopters were unable to land in Nuristan due to clouds and rain,” said Mohamed Nabi Adel, the province’s head of public works.
Adel said heavy snow blocked a main road into the province, making “rescue operations difficult.”
About 20 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, provincial information and culture chief Jamiullah Hashimi told AFP.
“Snow is still falling, rescue efforts are underway and the death toll may increase,” he said.
Much of Afghanistan, used to harsh winters, has seen delayed snowfall this year.
Afghanistan has entered its third year of drought and is one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to the United Nations.
Officials say Nuristan has seen less snowfall compared to previous years.
“We got very little snow this year, and it didn’t last long,” Adel said.
In a country heavily reliant on agriculture, very little rainfall has forced many farmers to delay planting.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, racked by decades of war, prone to natural disasters and vulnerable to extreme weather events linked to climate change.
The South Asian country once had ample humanitarian aid after the U.S.-led occupation, but aid funding to Afghanistan has dropped sharply since the Taliban returned to power in mid-2021, in part because of the many restrictions the Taliban imposed on women.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
