Toll rises to 300 in Afghanistan avalanches

Kabul, March 3 (IANS/EFE) Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah announced on Monday that the death toll from the recent avalanches that hit the country last week reached at least 300, while the Afghan government continues to receive reports of new victims and updates on rescue operations.

Abdullah said in a cabinet meeting that as a first step the government is trying to rescue trapped citizens and provide them with assistance and supplies, after which they will be helped in returning to their homes.

He stressed the importance of taking additional measures to respond effectively to disasters like that of the last week, which hit 19 out of 34 Afghanistan provinces, especially in the northern, eastern and western part of the country.

The northeastern province of Panjshir was the hardest hit by the storm, which claimed the lives of at least 196 people and destroyed 300 houses, Regional Deputy Governor Abdul Khabear Bakhshi said on Monday.

Thousands of people are still trapped in inaccessible areas of the province.

"It will take at least one month to remove snow from all of the roads and access remote villages," Bakhshi said, adding that the residents of those areas are suffering from shortages of food, water and medical services.

As a result, security teams were required to access highly remote areas in rescue helicopters.

On Saturday, the Afghani government declared three days of mourning over the victims of the snowstorms.

Official sources asserted that this storm, which has had a severe impact in mountainous areas, is the worst the country has seen in over 30 years.

--IANS/EFE

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