Flash Floods Kill 38 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan officials say flash floods in northern provinces have killed at least 38 people overnight.

Remote, northern areas of Afghanistan often see flash floods triggered by heavy rains, which also cause landslides.

The officials said Monday that the flash floods struck the provinces of Takhar, Badghis and Samangan. Heavy rains have also hit the capital, Kabul, with no major damages.

Takhar's natural disasters director Abdul Razaq Zinda says 13 people, including women and children, died in Kalafgan and Bangi districts. He says scores of houses were damaged, especially mud-brick structures.

In Badghis province, local spokesman Ahmad Khalid Safi says 19 people died in Muqur district. And in Samangan province, spokesman Seddiq Azizi says flash floods killed six people — three women and three children — and damaged about 20 houses.

(KA)