Afghanistan looks for 100 missing in floods that killed at least 23

At least 23 people have been killed after flash floods swept through eastern Afghanistan, with rescuers racing Tuesday to reach residents trapped under mud and debris.

Around 100 people are unaccounted for, the national disaster agency and the provincial governor’s office said, also updating the death toll from Monday’s deluge.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that dozens of people gathered in remote Parun, the capital of Nuristan province, using wooden poles and their bare hands to search for the missing.

Farid Gul Zaheer, a 34-year-old pharmacist, said he had “never witnessed such a dangerous flood.”

“It felt like there was an earthquake, and I heard children and people screaming,” he told AFP, after getting injured while trying to flee up the mountain.

On Tuesday, a bulldozer was of limited use in clearing some debris in Parun, where the flood had buried multiple shops and brought huge boulders that smashed into buildings.

Parun’s mayor and other government employees were among the missing, the governor’s office said Monday.

Zakirullah Zaki, manager of the Spogmai Hotel, said it felt like “an act of God struck us.”

“The rest of the hotels, markets, and shops were completely destroyed,” the 29-year-old told AFP.

The Spogmai was still standing, surrounded by destruction, and the manager’s missing younger brother was found.

‘Traumatized’

Juma Khan Nayel, communications chief for the Afghan Red Crescent Society, described a “devastating situation” with water rising to unprecedented levels.

They have deployed dozens of volunteers who are working by hand, using shovels.

Floodwaters near a hotel and guest house building in Parun, the capital of Nuristan province, Afghanistan, July 21, 2026. (Reuters Photo)

Residents and rescue workers gather to clear debris and inspect the damage following flash floods in Parun, Nuristan province, eastern Afghanistan, July 21, 2026. (EPA Photo)

“Right now, urgently, we are supplying some food,” water and tents for those whose homes have been destroyed, he told AFP.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said the military had been deployed to the area to support the relief effort, while the United Nations said it was assessing the disaster.

Zaheer, the pharmacist, said he had “lost everything.”

“Everyone is traumatized; they didn’t sleep all night,” he said.

The flooding and rain have also affected neighbouring Pakistan, where 12 people were killed according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial disaster agency.

More than 200 people were killed in flooding and rain that hit Afghanistan and Pakistan between March and April.

Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change and flooding has increased, according to the head of the country’s environmental protection agency.

Environmental problems “have severely affected the Afghan people and have contributed to a humanitarian crisis in the country”, Mawlavi Mati-ul-Haq Khalis said this month.

DAILYSABAH