Afghan President Visits Flood-Hit Parwan Province, Pledges Urgent Aid Package

CHARIKAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has pledged an urgent aid and recovery package to the residents of Parwan Province, which has been hit by heavy flooding in recent days.

During a visit to Parwan’s capital, Charikar, on September 3, Ghani said that his government "will make a sizeable investment" into various projects to help rebuild roads, clean canals, and provide financial help to those affected by the floods.

"We’ve received a proposal from the province to allocate 90 million Afghanis (about $1.2 million) to clean the canals [destroyed by the floods], and we’re providing this money immediately," Ghani told a gathering in Charikar.

Heavy rainfall that caused floods and mudslides killed some 200 people in Afghanistan’s northern and eastern regions, the disaster management agency said.

• RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
• AP

Flash floods caused by torrential rains have killed more than 100 people in Afghanistan. Authorities say at least 1,000 houses were destroyed in Parwan Province, just north of the capital, Kabul. There was also severe flooding in Maidan Wardak Province, west of Kabul.

Parwan was the area most heavily affected by flooding that displaced thousands of large rocks, causing deaths and injuries, destroying entire homes, and burying people under the rubble.

Parwan officials say 157 people were killed and 130 wounded in the province. Five people remain unaccounted for.