Afghanistan Floods Kill at Least 26 as UN and Aid Agencies Search for Survivors
Flash floods in eastern Afghanistan have killed at least 26 people, the United Nations reported on July 22, as search teams continued looking for missing residents and aid agencies worked to reach survivors. The disaster damaged or swept away homes, markets and roads, adding a sudden emergency to Afghanistan’s already severe humanitarian pressures.
The United Nations said 23 of the reported deaths were in mountainous Nuristan province. It also identified other eastern Afghan provinces among the affected areas, but the available reporting did not establish that every eastern province suffered the same level of damage.
Searches continue as casualty figures change
The death toll in the UN update was higher than the initial figures reported by The Associated Press on July 20. AP, citing Afghan authorities, reported 20 deaths, about 80 injuries and more than 100 people missing in its initial accounting.
Those figures should not be combined into a single total. The difference reflects separate reports made while rescue and assessment operations were still underway. The final number of deaths, injuries and displaced residents had not been established in the sources reviewed.
Search teams were still looking for people reported missing after the floods. Damage to roads and other routes can complicate access to affected communities, while damage to homes and markets threatens both shelter and local livelihoods. The sources do not provide a complete assessment of the infrastructure damage or say how many residents were displaced.
A disaster amid wider humanitarian strain
The flooding comes as Afghanistan faces broader food insecurity, displacement and limited response capacity. Relief operations are underfunded, according to the UN reporting, leaving aid agencies to respond to the flood emergency while serving communities already under pressure.
A separate United Nations response plan published on May 19 illustrates the scale of that pressure. The 2026 Response Plan for Afghan Returnees projects nearly 2.7 million Afghan returns from Iran and Pakistan between April and December 2026. It seeks $529.2 million for assistance covering protection, health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihoods and housing.
The plan is a funding requirement and projection, not a statement that the full amount has been secured. It also concerns returnees across the wider response, rather than providing a flood-specific damage estimate for eastern Afghanistan.
What happens next
For the flood-affected communities, the immediate next steps are continued searches, casualty verification and delivery of assistance to survivors. Afghan authorities and humanitarian agencies will need to determine the extent of damage and identify people who remain missing, while the toll may change as teams reach more remote areas.
Authorities had also warned people to avoid flood-prone areas, according to AP. That warning underscores the continuing safety risk while conditions are assessed, but the approved sources do not provide a forecast or say when the danger will end.
The disaster’s full human cost remains uncertain. What is clear from the UN’s July 22 update is that at least 26 people died, most of the reported deaths occurred in Nuristan, and homes, markets and roads were affected. The continuing search and aid effort now unfolds against a response system already seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to address Afghanistan’s wider humanitarian needs.
Sources
- Deadly Afghanistan floods kill at least 26 as aid agencies race to reach survivors, United Nations
- Flash floods kill at least 20 in Afghanistan and leave more than 100 missing, The Associated Press
- 2026 Response Plan for Afghan Returnees published, United Nations in Afghanistan
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