Another RFE/RL correspondent from Northern province of Sarepul has reported that floods destroyed hundreds of hectares of farmland and at least three people are confirmed dead. Other provinces are reporting rising water levels.

People are in Paktia are calling on the Afghan government to come to their aid. Afghan Government officials in this province have addmited that posiblity of floods in Paktia province is very high.

(RFE/RL’s Afghan Service)

• 21March 2005 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai today called for a national effort to overcome the effects of flooding which has hit a number of Afghan districts.

Some 200 people are thought to have been killed from floods caused by torrential rains and melting snow. The worst-affected area is the central Uruzgan province. Karzai spoke at a stadium in Kabul during
Novruz ceremonies.

Karzai said "We, ourselves [should act decisively], through each individual and people's cooperation in villages, in districts, and provinces, we should stand up together and fight natural disasters." Karzai also said that Afghanistan must be rebuilt with "hard work." The United Nations is flying aid to the flooded areas.

Despite the crisis, thousands of people flew kites and danced on the hills outside Kabul today to mark the Afghan New Year or Novruz.

(AFP)

• 21 March 2005 -- The United Nations says relief efforts are underway in Afghanistan, where upwards of 200 people are feared dead from floods caused by torrential rains and melting snow.

U.N. spokeswoman Ariane Quentier said in Kabul that five metric tons of World Food Program assistance had been airlifted to the worst-affected area, the central Uruzgan province, and five more tons would be delivered shortly.

Quentier said "Five metric tons of the World Food Program assistance has already been airlifted to the affected area and a further five metric ton will be delivered very shortly." Quentier also said U.S. helicopters had rescued some 250 trapped flood victims after heavy rain caused flooding along the Helmand River in Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan.

Also, Afghan President Hamid Karzai today during the Nowruz celebration at a stadium in Kabul said that "We, ourselves [should act decisively], through each individual and people's cooperation in villages, in districts, and provinces, we should stand up together and fight natural disasters. "

The western Farah province is among other areas that have been hard-hit by the flooding.

• 19 March 2005-- Afghan officials say that at least 24 people have died and thousands rendered homeless after severe floods hit south-central and western Afghanistan.

The floods triggered by heavy rain hit Uruzgan, Farah, Ghor and Jawzjan provinces.

Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said today that 21 people died in Farah province yesterday and three in neighboring Ghor province. He said that some 600 houses have been destroyed in the Dehrawood district of Uruzgan province. Scores of houses have also been destroyed in the Uruzgan capital Tarin Kot, in Chori and in Khas Uruzgan district.

(AFP/REUTER/AP/AFP)

Related Links:

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan - UNAMA

World Food Program

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies