DUSHANBE, April 29, 2015, Asia-Plus — At least 52 people, mostly women and children, are feared dead after a landslide swept through a village in Afghanistan”s Badakhshan Province on April 28,
AFP
reports.
The disaster, which buried dozens of houses in Badakhshan province, comes nearly a year after another landslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least 300 people in the isolated region.
According to
AFP
, the disasters highlight the challenges facing the underdeveloped nation as it battles a resilient Taliban insurgency in what is expected to be the bloodiest spring-summer fighting season for a decade.
Iran’s
Press TV
quoted provincial governor, Shah Waliullah Adeeb, as saying that the natural calamity happened in Khwahan district, located around 200 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Faizabad, early on Tuesday.
Press TV
reports that Mohammad Ghufran Zaki, Khwahan, district chief, said 25 women, 22 children and five men were so far reported to have been killed in the mudslide, adding that local people are working to remove those buried.
AFP
quoted deputy provincial governor Gul Mohammad Beidar as saying that they have asked Kabul for help. “This is a remote area on the border with Tajikistan and the road to this district remains closed for six months of the year,” Beidar told
AFP
, highlighting the challenges facing the relief effort.
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, the police spokesman of Badakhshan, reportedly confirmed the toll. “Initial information shows 100 houses have been destroyed in the landslide and 52 people are missing,” Ahmadzai told
AFP
.
Flooding and landslides often occur during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels and torrents of mud.
AFP
says Afghanistan is currently in the grip of fierce battles in various provinces between local security forces and the Taliban, who launched their traditional spring offensive last Friday.
The militants have stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets in recent weeks, inflicting a heavy toll on civilians and Afghan security forces.
This year”s Taliban offensive marks the first fighting season in which Afghan forces will battle the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.
NATO”s combat mission formally ended in December but a small follow-up foreign force has stayed on to train and support local security personnel.
