By The South Asia Times

KABUL -  More than 40 people have been killed and dozens remain missing after torrential rains triggered devastating flash floods in eastern Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as humanitarian agencies raced to deliver emergency aid to affected communities.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that preliminary information indicated the flooding, which struck parts of eastern Afghanistan on Monday, had left more than 40 people dead, injured dozens of others and left many still unaccounted for.

"The flooding also caused extensive damage to homes, public buildings and businesses," Dujarric said during the UN's daily briefing.

Search-and-rescue operations are continuing in the worst-hit areas as UN agencies and humanitarian partners work alongside local authorities to assess the scale of the disaster and coordinate relief efforts.

According to the UN, the most urgent humanitarian needs include emergency shelter, food assistance, healthcare, essential household items and psychosocial support for families affected by the disaster.

Mobile health teams have been deployed to the affected areas, health facilities have been placed on alert, and additional medical, nutrition and food supplies are being mobilized, Dujarric said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is leading coordination with humanitarian organizations and local authorities, although damaged roads and difficult mountainous terrain are hampering access to devastated communities.

The latest UN figures are higher than the casualty toll released by Afghanistan's Taliban-led National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA), which said flash floods in Nuristan province had killed at least 23 people, injured 80 and left more than 100 missing.

Taliban officials said 15 bodies had been recovered as of Tuesday while rescue teams continued searching for survivors in and around Parun, the provincial capital of Nuristan.

Authorities said the floods swept away homes, shops, vehicles and hotels, causing widespread destruction to infrastructure and isolating several communities. Local media reported that floodwaters surged through Parun within minutes, trapping residents and overwhelming buildings and businesses.

The disaster prompted senior Taliban disaster management officials to meet with representatives of UN agencies in Kabul on Tuesday to discuss the emergency response and seek additional international assistance for affected families in Nuristan.

Aid agencies warned that Afghanistan remains highly vulnerable to recurring climate-related disasters, with decades of conflict, widespread poverty and fragile infrastructure leaving millions at risk from floods, droughts and other extreme weather events.

Flash floods regularly strike the country's mountainous eastern and northern provinces during the spring and summer rainy seasons, compounding an already severe humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Afghans.