Collected photo

KABUL, April 4, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Heavy rain and storms have killed at least 
121 people over two weeks across Afghanistan and Pakistan, disaster officials 
in both countries said Saturday.

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

"Since March 26 till today, 77 people have been killed and 137 wounded across 
the country because of the floods and rains," Afghanistan's disaster 
management authority (ANDMA) spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Hammad told AFP on 
Saturday.

The spokesman added that 26 people were killed and 48 were wounded across the 
country in the past 48 hours due to rains, floods, landslides and lightning.

Across the border in Pakistan, 44 people were killed following heavy rains in 
the last weeks, officials said.

At least 32 people died in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 
March 25 and 12 in southwestern Balochistan since March 20, the provincial 
disaster management authorities told AFP.

Afghanistan's latest casualties include a child who drowned in a flash flood 
in southeastern Ghazni on Saturday morning while he was busy playing with 
other children, provincial police said.

Two more children also drowned in different districts of the same province.

That came hours after three people died in Kandahar province, southern 
Afghanistan, when the roof of their house collapsed due to rains, the 
provincial disaster management authority said.

- Damage -

ANDMA spokesman Hammad said rainfall since the start of spring "can 
strengthen the underground sources of water and give growth to the 
agriculture sector".

But he said it can also cause human suffering and financial loss.

In western Herat province, farmer Abdul Rahim Taimori said: "We don't 
remember such a flood happening before. It has caused us a lot of damage.

"It has destroyed the crops of people, their homes. If it continues like this 
then we would have to leave our homes," the 45-year-old told AFP.

But relocating is unaffordable for many.

"Where shall we go? We are forced to stay," said Majal Niazi, a 45-year-old 
farmer who lives in a one-room house with his family.

The rain has also led to several road closures, with Kabul police reporting 
the partial closure Friday of the road between the capital and the city of 
Jalalabad.

Afghanistan's disaster management authority renewed its warning to people to 
stay away from "rivers and flooded streams, and follow the weather forecast 
seriously".

The latest casualties follow more than 60 people being killed in snow and 
heavy rain that hit Afghanistan in January.

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.

"It was drought before and now we have these rains, both are a danger," said 
Abdul Sattar, a 40-year-old farmer in Herat.