At least 40 die after heavy rains pound eastern Afghanistan, destroying houses and cutting power

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Heavy rains in eastern Afghanistan have killed at least 40 people and injured nearly 350 others, Taliban officials said Tuesday.

Among the dead in Monday's storm were five members of the same family when the roof of their house collapsed in Surkh Rod district, according to provincial spokesperson Sediqullah Quraishi. Four other family members were injured.

Sharafat Zaman Amar, a spokesperson for the Public Health Ministry, said the 347 injured people had been brought for treatment to the regional hospital in Nangarhar from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, and nearby districts.

About 400 houses and 60 electricity poles were destroyed across Nangarhar, Quraishi said. Power was cut in many areas and there were limited communications in Jalalabad city, he said. The damage was still being assessed.

Abdul Wali, 43, said much of the damage occurred within an hour. “The winds were so strong that they blew everything into the air. That was followed by heavy rain,” he said. His 4-year-old daughter received minor injuries, he said.

Aid organizations rushed supplies and mobile teams.

International Rescue Committee Afghanistan Director Salma ben Aissa said her group was conducting assessments and providing emergency health services.

“The continuation of climate-induced disasters in Afghanistan ought to be cause for grave concern: decades of conflict and economic crisis has meant that the country has faced setback after setback as it tries to find its feet. The sad reality is that without a massive increase in support from donors and the international community, many more will lose their lives,” she said in a statement.

In May, exceptionally heavy rains killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, according to the World Food Program.

Separately, the official Taliban news agency Bakhtar reported that at least 17 people were killed and 34 others injured when a bus overturned Tuesday morning on the main highway linking Kabul and Balkh in northern Baghlan province.

The cause of the accident wasn't immediately clear, but poor road conditions and careless driving are often blamed for such incidents in the country.

An injured victim of a rain storm is treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Injured victims of a rain storm are treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Injured victims of a rain storm are treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Injured victims of a rain storm are treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Injured victims of a rain storm are treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Injured victims of a rain storm are treated at a hospital, in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

People gather to clear the rubble of a house partially damaged by landslide due to heavy rainfall in Surkhroad district of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

People gather to clear the rubble of a house partially damaged by landslide due to heavy rainfall in Surkhroad district of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

People gather to clear the rubble of a house partially damaged by a landslide due to heavy rainfall in Surkhroad district of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Forty dead in heavy rains in eastern Afghanistan; 17 killed in bus accident

People gather to clear the rubble of a house partially damaged by landslide due to heavy rainfall in Surkhroad district of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Shafiullah Kakar)

Forty dead in heavy rains in eastern Afghanistan; 17 killed in bus accident

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Multiple attacks in Pakistan’s restive southwest have killed at least 38 people, the highest death toll in a 24-hour period blamed on separatists in Baluchistan province in recent years.

Gunmen mowed down people after dragging them off buses, cars and trucks. Police and passersby were fatally shot in broad daylight in another district. A railway bridge connecting the province with the rest of the country was blown up. A police station was attacked. There have been other reports of shootings.

The assaults were more audacious and brutal than the ones usually perpetrated by militants, who normally target security personnel or installations.

Here’s a look at what is happening in Baluchistan:

Though Pakistan’s largest province, Baluchistan is its least populated, made up largely of high mountains. It’s also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baluch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. That has fuelled a separatist insurgency demanding independence. Islamic militants also operate in the province.

The government says it has largely quelled the violence, but assaults persist with raids by security forces and counterattacks.

The main player is the outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army, which Pakistan and the U.S. have designated as a terrorist organization. It opposes the Pakistani government and wants a sovereign state that includes territories in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. It targets security forces in Baluchistan and sometimes Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and economic hub in Sindh province next door.

The BLA frequently, but not always, claims attacks. It has been banned since 2006.

The group was emboldened by the Pakistani Taliban ending a cease-fire with the government in November 2022 and ordering their fighters to resume attacks on the military. Islamabad-based analyst Abdullah Khan said the BLA is operating in the province with the support of other groups.

Last December, the leader of another insurgent group said he had surrendered to authorities with some 70 of his followers. Sarfraz Bungulzai, from the Baluch National Army, declared his regret for his role in kidnapping civilians for ransom and killing unarmed people.

The volatile relationship between Iran and Pakistan compounds the insecurity and instability. They share a 900-kilometre (560-mile), largely lawless border where smugglers and fighters roam freely.

Insurgencies on either side of the Iran-Pakistan border have frustrated both countries. Their governments suspect each other of supporting — or at least tolerating — some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.

Massive Chinese-led infrastructure projects are also driving unrest, as separatists accuse the federal government of unfairly exploiting oil- and mineral-rich Baluchistan at the expense of locals.

Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative that connects south and central Asia with the Chinese capital.

Separatists, usually from the BLA, launch small-scale assaults on security forces and installations, with the death toll in the single digits.

But the coordination and tactics of the past 24 hours reveal a greater level of ambition, defiance and sheer brutality. The BLA had warned people to stay away from highways ahead of the attacks — it doesn’t normally give notice.

Sunday night’s highway assault was reminiscent of one in April, when gunmen killed nine people after abducting them from a bus. The same attackers had earlier killed two people and wounded six in another car that they forced to stop. Both incidents were claimed by the BLA.

In May, gunmen fatally shot seven barbers, all from eastern Punjab province, apparently part of a drive to force outsiders to leave Baluchistan.

Analyst Khan said the BLA is getting better at mobilising fighters in different areas and that its operational capabilities have increased tremendously. Authorities estimate the BLA has around 3,000 fighters.

Islamabad-based security analyst Syed Muhammad Ali said the latest killings are an attempt to harm the province economically, because “the weakening of Baluchistan means the weakening of Pakistan.”

While insurgent attacks aim to discourage people from outside the region from travelling, trading, or working in the province, they also make life harder for the Balochis by discouraging investment, aid and disrupting the flow of goods and services, Ali said.

A decadeslong crackdown and heavy-handed militarization to combat militancy creates additional trauma for locals, who have deep grievances about enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Thousands protested last month against police violence, an internet shutdown and highway closures. At least one person was reportedly killed.

Analyst Khan said the timing was an attempt to sabotage Pakistan’s effort to present the province as a secure place for international investment.

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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Volunteers and relatives load the body of a passenger, who was killed by gunmen at a highway in Musakhail, into an ambulance after collecting it from a hospital, in Quetta, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Relatives take care of a passenger, wounded by gunmen at a highway in Musakhail, after receiving initial treatment at a hospital, in Quetta, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

People look burnt vehicles, torched by gunmen after killing passengers, at a highway in Musakhail, a district in Baluchistan province in southwestern Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rahmat Khan)

People look at a burnt vehicle which was torched by gunmen after they killed passengers at a highway in Musakhail, a district in Baluchistan province in restive southwestern Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rahmat Khan)