148 dead as Afghanistan faces harsher weather

Afghanistan is set to face further rough conditions on Thursday, the country's weather authorities warned, following floods, earthquakes, and landslides that have killed 148 people over the past two weeks.

Heavy rain has triggered severe flooding in the South Asian country since March 26 and caused homes and buildings to collapse in hilly areas.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region last week, compounding challenges in the war-shattered nation.

Since March 26, 148 people have died, 216 have been injured, and eight are missing, due to heavy rains, floods, earthquakes, and landslides, the deputy spokesperson for the Taliban administration, Hamdullah Fitrat, said late on Wednesday.

A total of 1,149 houses have been destroyed, while roads and crops have also been damaged, affecting more than 7,500 families, he said.

The United Nations lists Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan among the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change. Hemmed in by rugged mountains, Afghanistan witnesses frequent earthquakes.

Heavy rains also killed at least 17 people, including 14 children, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month, and Reuters images showed roads washed away by a flash flood in neighbouring Balochistan province.

In 2025, earthquakes, floods, and drought similarly destroyed 8,000 homes in Afghanistan and strained public services "beyond their limits", according to a United Nations Development Programme report in November.