Afghanistan Flood Death Toll Reaches 182, Taliban Calls For International Help: We Can't Handle It Alone

Afghanistan flood illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan)

JAKARTA - The death toll from floods that hit Afghanistan this month has reached more than 180, the Taliban said on Thursday, calling on the international community for help.

Floods have inflicted widespread damage in Afghanistan's central and eastern provinces in recent weeks, washing away thousands of homes, and exacerbating the country's economic and humanitarian crisis.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan cannot handle the floods alone, we ask the world, international organizations, and Islamic countries to help us", said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid at a press conference, reported Reuters on August 26.

Mujahid said 182 people died in this month's floods and 250 were injured. More than 3,100 houses were destroyed and thousands of livestock were killed.

In Khoshi District, central Logar Province, aid workers described widespread devastation from heavy flooding in recent days, with crop fields turning to mud and animal corpses lying in piles.

About 20,000 people in the district were affected by the floods and 20 people, including at least six children, died with two more missings, UNICEF said.

"People lost everything. They lost everything overnight", said Anne Kindrachuk, head of the central region for UNICEF Afghanistan, after a visit to the area.

"There are three tent communities or camps but (people) are not sure what will happen next, how they will eat this winter, their livelihoods are wiped out", she said.

Afghanistan has been hit by several natural disasters this year, including drought and an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people in June. The country has been largely cut off from the international financial system since the Taliban took over a year ago.