Afghanistan: UN agencies bring more relief supplies to flood-stricken town

United Nations and other humanitarian agencies have continued to deliver relief supplies to a flood-stricken province in northwest Afghanistan, a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMA) said today in Kabul.

This morning, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) sent 9 tons of food aid to the people affected by the flood in Qala-i-Naw and Ab Kamari districts in Badghis province, which was hit by heavy rains on Tuesday, Manoel de Almeida e Silva said at a press briefing.

The deliveries rushed to the area included oil, high energy biscuits and 13 tons of wheat flour, as well as tents, blankets, clothing, sleeping bags and medical supplies from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and Medicins Sans Frontiere, the spokesman added.

The floods resulting from Tuesday’s downpour claimed two lives while the Governor’s Office in Qala-i-Naw reported six people missing, Mr. de Almeida e Silva said. According to initial reports 500 houses have been destroyed, affecting 400 to 500 families in the surrounding villages, and 180 shops in the city centre have also been ruined. In addition to the water purification tanks and wells, irrigated land and cattle have also been affected.

Up to 80 per cent of the irrigated land in the nearby villages of Karghai-2 and Baghak was now under mud and water, a great loss to the farmers who were expecting the harvest in a couple of months, the spokesman said. Both places also lost a major portion of livestock and some roads were cut off.