Floods kill 24 across Afghanistan in recent days

Heavy rain and floods have killed at least 24 people in the past 48 hours across Afghanistan, local and disaster officials said on Friday.

In the last 24 hours, 15 people were killed in the northern province of Baghlan, two in northeastern Badakhshan and one in central Wardak due to flash floods.

"Fifteen people have lost their lives, and dozens more have been injured due to the floods," said Farooq Akhplawak, spokesman for the Baghlan governor.

A local official in Badakhshan said: "Two people have died, two others are missing, more than 100 residential houses have been destroyed."

Heavy rain has battered much of Afghanistan since Wednesday, causing floods in multiple provinces.

Another six people were killed on Thursday in several provinces of the country.

"In the past 24 hours... six people were martyred, and eleven people were injured," Afghanistan's disaster management authority (ANDMA) spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Hammad said on Thursday.

Stormy weather has brought rain across Afghanistan since late March, causing floods and landslides and damaging homes and crops.

The latest casualties followed the deaths of at least 148 people, as well as 137 wounded, across the country owing to flooding and rain in April.

Afghanistan frequently experiences deadly floods, landslides and storms, particularly in remote areas with fragile infrastructure.

Among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is spurring extreme weather.