A man carries his belongings after floods devastated Jawzjan province and neighbouring Faryab province in Afghanistan. (Photo: Mustafa Najafizada/AP)
More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial authorities.
Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at the start of spring.
In the northern province of Jawzjan, the police chief, Faqer Mohammad Jawzjani, said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead would increase over the coming days.
"Providing aid or help from the ground is impossible," he told Reuters. "We have carried 1,500 people to safe areas of neighbouring districts by helicopter. We need emergency assistance from the central government and aid agencies."
The governor of neighbouring Faryab province said 33 people had died there and 80 others were missing. "Ten thousand families have been affected and more then 2,000 houses have been destroyed," Mohammadullah Batazhn said.
Officials said 13 people were killed in the provinces of Badghis and Sar-e Pol.