Flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Afghanistan have killed at least 17 people, officials said on Thursday

The season’s first heavy rains and snowfall have ended a prolonged dry spell in Afghanistan but triggered flash floods that killed at least 17 people and injured 11 others, a spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said on Thursday.

The severe weather disrupted daily life across central, northern, southern and western regions of the country, ANDMA spokesman Mohammad Yousaf Hammad said. Flooding damaged infrastructure in several districts, killed livestock and affected around 1,800 families, deepening hardships in already vulnerable urban and rural communities.

Hammad said assessment teams have been deployed to the worst-hit areas, with surveys under way to determine further relief needs.

Afghanistan, like neighbouring Pakistan and India, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, particularly flash floods during seasonal rains. Decades of conflict, weak infrastructure, deforestation and the growing impacts of climate change have intensified the damage, especially in remote areas where many homes are made of mud and provide little protection against sudden flooding.