The Associated Press, January 19, 2012

Avalanches Kill 29 in Afghanistan

In February 2010, an avalanche killed at least 171 people near the Salang Pass

Avalanches occur every year in Salang Pass, north of Kabul. (Photo: AFP / Getty)

Avalanches have killed at least 29 people in Afghanistan's mountainous northeast as rescuers struggled to reach the worst-hit areas cut off by heavy snows, officials said.

The Afghan National Disaster Management Agency said Thursday that at least 40 more people have been injured in a series of avalanches since Monday in Badakhshan province.

Roads outside the provincial capital of Faizabad are blocked by at least 6 feet (2 meters) of snow, the agency said.

Afghanistan's harsh winters and mountainous terrain in the north make avalanches a danger each year. In February 2010, an avalanche killed at least 171 people near the Salang Pass, a major route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the capital of Kabul to the north of the country.

The NATO security force in Afghanistan said Thursday that one of its service members died after an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday. A coalition statement did not provide the nationality of the service member, nor any details of the attack.

On Wednesday, dozens of civilians, coalition troops and Afghan security forces were killed and wounded when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a bazaar.

Daud Ahmadi, a provincial spokesman, said a bomber on a motorcycle killed 12 Afghans, including two policeman, and wounded at least 23 other people in Kajaki district of Helmand province

A statement released late Wednesday by NATO said the Kajaki explosion killed and wounded dozens of Afghan civilians, Afghan national security forces and coalition troops. The Wednesday statement did not give details about how many foreign troops had been killed or wounded.

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