11 villagers missing after floods hit eastern Nangarhar

11 villagers missing after floods hit eastern Nangarhar
26.08.2006 At least 11 people are missing after their villages were struck by floods in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday, local officials confirm.

Following torrential rains, flash floods ravaged Kout district, 70 km southeast of Jalalabad, provincial capital of Nangarhar, Mohammad Hashim Ghamsharek, head of Nangarhar's information and culture department, told IRIN by phone.

“Hundreds of families have been affected and need urgent assistance,” Ghamsharek stated.

But according to Nangarhar’s department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (RRD) on Friday, a team has already been dispatched to the flood-affected area to assess the damage.

The region has witnessed a barrage of recent flooding due to heavy rains.

On Wednesday, floods killed two people in Nangarhar's Chafplayar district, washing away hundreds of acres of farmlands, local officials said.

Flash floods on 30 July killed 13 people in the village of Kodi Khail of Shirzad district and washed away more than 1,000 hectares of farmlands and destroyed dozens of houses, according to officials.

On 10 August, local authorities confirmed that floods had killed 33 and left thousands of people homeless in the southeastern provinces of Paktika, Ghazni and Paktia.

Floods killed at least seven people and forced 500 families to leave their villages and homes in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan in July.

Additionally, floods killed at least 16 people and destroyed hundreds of homes in Baghlan and Faryab provinces on 30 April, officials said.

According to experts, the impoverished Central Asian state, which has suffered numerous environmental degradations, including deforestation and drought, is particularly vulnerable to floods and other natural disasters.

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