Overview
- A sudden flash flood swept down into Parun on Monday, killing at least 23 people, injuring about 80 and leaving more than 100 people unaccounted for.
- The torrent buried homes, shops and hotels under mud and large boulders, leaving streets and key routes impassable and destroying local businesses.
- Rescue efforts are mainly manual as residents, Red Crescent volunteers and limited heavy equipment dig through rubble while the military and ANDMA support operations and the UN conducts assessments.
- Meteorologists warn of further heavy rain and flash-flood risk across roughly 10 provinces, a threat that could push search-and-rescue needs and casualties higher and affect neighbouring Pakistan.
- Officials and experts point to deforestation, weak infrastructure, frozen foreign funding and a warming climate as drivers of Afghanistan’s growing vulnerability and the likely need for expanded humanitarian aid.