Flash floods kill at least 30 people north of Kabul

At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds of houses destroyed as flash floods caused by torrential rains lashed a city north of the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said on Wednesday.

Many children were among the dead in the city of Charikar, which was hit by heavy rains overnight, the ministry of disaster management said in a statement.

About 20 people were also injured and more than 300 houses destroyed.

A local government hospital in the province of Parwan said it had received the bodies of 17 people killed in the floods.

A relief operation was underway to help those affected.

Torrential downpours and flash floods kill scores of people annually in Afghanistan.

Many poorly built homes, mostly in rural areas, are at risk of collapse during the rains in the impoverished country.

Earlier this month, 16 people, including 15 children, were killed and dozens of houses were destroyed when flash floods ravaged a village in the eastern province of Nangarhar.