Flash floods kill six, destroy homes

The United Nations and aid agencies rushed relief supplies to the western Afghan city of Qaleh-ye Now in Badghis Province on Wednesday, where flash floods caused by torrential rains have reportedly killed six people and destroyed hundreds of houses. Yusuf Hassan, spokesman for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told IRIN from the Afghan capital, Kabul, that he believed the extent of damage could be greater. "The road has been washed away, and there is water around the city," he said. The flooding, caused by torrential rain that began falling on Monday, had stranded more than 650 Afghan refugees returning from Iran to different villages in Badghis Province at UNHCR's transit camp in the western city of Herat. "About four truckloads of returnees are also stranded near Qaleh-ye Now because of the floods," he added. Various UN agencies and two NGOs have rushed in two truckloads of relief supplies that include tents, blankets and clothes to the affected area, about five to six hours drive from Herat. Khalid Mansour, spokesman for the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), told IRIN from Kabul that they had received information that up to 2,000 people could have been affected. "This morning we sent a helicopter to assess the damage and to see what is required," he noted, adding that the agency had sent eight mt of food to the area from Herat.