Storms, floods kill more than 220 in Afghanistan and Pakistan in three weeks

Women ride on the back of a motorcycle over floodwaters after heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

KABUL - Heavy rain, storms and floods have battered Asian neighbours Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last three weeks, killing at least 222 people, disaster officials in both countries said Thursday.

In Afghanistan, which already faces a severe humanitarian crisis, rain, floods, landslides and lightning strikes killed 148 people since March 26, the spokesman of the National Disaster Management Authority, Mohammad Yousuf Hammad, told AFP.

In Dewalak village of Jaghato district in Wardak province, one child was killed due to the collapse of a wall, according to the provincial Department of Information and Culture.

In the central province of Parwan, six people also died on Wednesday due to roof collapses, Mawlawi Abdul Aleem Afzali, chief of the provincial disaster management agency, said.

In northern Pakistan, the death toll has risen in recent days, reaching 51 people since March 25, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial disaster management agency told AFP.

Five people also died in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since March 25, local disaster authorities said.

And in southwestern Balochistan, at least 18 people have died since March 20, according to the latest figures from local authorities.

The severe weather has also caused widespread damage, with over 370 kilometres (230 miles) of roads distroyed in Afghanistan as well as nearly 1,230 houses.

Afghanistan frequently experiences deadly floods, landslides and storms, particularly in remote areas with fragile infrastructure.