Floods in the west kill at least two

People are continuing to suffer as a result of heavy floods which struck last week in Gulran and Koshk districts of the western province of Herat, while no aid agency or government body has so far responded. "The situation is very bad. Seventy-two families have lost their houses and are living in shops or in tents," Sayed Zabiullah, of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) told IRIN from Herat city on Wednesday.

"The floods killed one person and injured two," Zabuillah said, adding that many head of livestock had also died. The floods lasted four days. "As far as the aid community is concerned, they have not assisted them yet," Zabiullah said.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Herat has confirmed that the floods seriously damaged residential areas and farmlands. "So far, two dead bodies have been found and more tha 100 hectares of land were destroyed," Khaja Fayazuddin Siddiqi, a UNHCR regional information officer, told IRIN from Herat.

According to Siddiqi, the district administrators of Gulran and Koshk had reported to UNHCR that many families had been displaced. "Two aid agencies which are in the flood-affected districts are busy conducting a survey on the losses caused by the floods," Siddiqi said, noting that vulnerable families had not yet received any assistance.

After four years of drought, Afghanistan has had better rains this year, but is now suffering from flash floods. On 23 March, heavy floods affected 2,000 people, damaging 474 houses, while completely destroying 168 dwellings in the northeastern province of Konduz. In the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, heavy rains destroyed compounds and houses.