ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - Flash floods in western and north eastern provinces leave a wake of dead, injured and homeless people

Kabul (Agenzia Fides) – According to the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA), sudden floods in various part of Afghanistan killed 20 people and destroyed dozens of homes. The north eastern province of Kapisa and the western province of Laghman were the most affected, but casualties and damages were reported also in the provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar. Twenty people were killed and thousands of homes were destroyed in the district of Kohband, many injured persons was taken to hospital. Six people were killed in the province of Laghman. Since March this year, floods have caused at least 300 deaths in 19 of the country's 34 provinces. Thousands of people in the north and west are now homeless. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working in collaboration with the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) to provide emergency supplies of food and other basic necessities, to more than 44,000 internally displaced persons. Afghanistan has a total of about 300,000 IDPs. About 100 families, probably dispersed by torrential rains in various parts of the northern province of Balkh, have set up a camp some 50 km west of the provincial capital, Mazar-e-Sharrif. There is also concern for families affected by a 5.3 Richter grade earthquake and successive floods in the northern province of Samangan which left 17 persons dead and 14 injured, as well as thousands of homeless. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in the month of June alone, aid agencies assisted 3,000 families affected by the earthquake. (AP) (29/7/2010 Agenzia Fides)