OOn May 10, 2024, Haroon Nafas was at his family’s guest house in Baghlan, northern Afghanistan, spending time with friends who had come to stay there. It rained lightly all afternoon, but around 3:00 PM the group heard a loud boom.
“We immediately went outside to find out what was causing the sound,” says Nafas. “At first we were confused, we thought it might have been a plane. But then we realized that no, it’s a flood.
Nafas rushed home to his house, which was fortunately located on a hillside, and began to gather his family. Meanwhile, several members of the town sought shelter on top of the local mosque, including Nafasa’s brothers, who used a mulberry tree to climb to the roof and reach safety.
Others were not so lucky. “The flood was very strong, maybe up to 30 meters high,” says Nafas. “People were even dragged from the roofs of some buildings. The water damage spread for several kilometers. Some households lost up to 11 family members.
At least 315 people were killed and more than 2,000 houses destroyed in Baghlan over two days. About 1,600 people were injured, hundreds more are missing. Flash floods also wreaked havoc in other provinces across Afghanistan, with at least 50 people killed in Ghor.
Afghanistan has always been prone to natural disasters. Among low-income nations, according to one report, it ranked second in the number of deaths they caused between 1980 and 2015. However, the frequency and severity of disasters such as flash floods are increasing, and climate failure is not solely responsible for these changes. The history of armed conflict in the country significantly worsened the situation.
Dr Najibullah Sadid, an environmental researcher and water resource expert based in Germany, says it is important for warring parties to take more responsibility because toxic artillery often backfires and damages the environment. Explosives can damage ecosystems, disrupt biodiversity and weaken soil structure, and can damage groundwater resources.
According to a report by Progressive magazine, the US dropped more than 85,000 bombs on Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021. In places where massive aerial bombs have been dropped, nicknamed the “mother of all bombs,” such as in Nangarhar province, scientists have found that plant yields have halved due to the spread of toxins. Such toxins can also be carried to other areas by wind or water.
Another problem is mine contamination. As of 2021, only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces has been (temporarily) declared mine-free. The remaining 33 provinces still have explosive munitions scattered about. Despite this, funding for the country’s mine action sector is falling from US$113m (£86m) in 2011 to US$32m in 2020. The Taliban takeover in August 2021 has further threatened these flows as many donors remain reluctant to commit new government, despite improved operating conditions and access to previously inaccessible locations. According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, approximately 45,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured by landmines since 1989.
Sadid says the mines have a direct link to the recent flash floods: “Landmines [and] demining activity disturbs the structure of the soil. Disturb it and you are basically exposing the soil to erosion. For example, the debris flow in Baghlan may be related to the war, as the floods come from a valley that is completely dry.
Deforestation caused by conflict also worsens flash floods. In 1970, Afghanistan had 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres) of forest, covering 4.5% of the country. By 2016, this share had decreased to approximately 1.5%. In Nuristan, a province in eastern Afghanistan, forest cover shrank by 53% during that time.
“Vegetation holds a lot of rainwater,” says Sadid. “When there is no forest, the land is exposed to landslides and runoff increases. That is why we are now seeing very extreme flash floods in some parts of Afghanistan.
For Sayed Abdul Baset, a disaster risk reduction expert and resident of Herat, the problem is close to home. A former adviser to the Afghan government says there is still an opportunity to unite and mobilize despite the challenges posed by climate change.
“These natural disasters are related to the activities of the country,” he says. “They show how dangerous our homes are, how weak our coping and early warning systems are. We don’t have water pipes. The topography of the land is not good. There is no flood zone. People live in floodplains. It is a very painful image. It’s nothing less than war.”
Based in Herat, Sohila Akbari has been leading humanitarian efforts as part of a team of 12 women for more than a decade.
With financial contributions collected from the Afghan diaspora and donors abroad, her grassroots organization Committee Akbari regularly distributes emergency aid such as food, clothing and tents to the city’s poorest and disaster-affected residents.
“I first started communicating with those who struggle with my work as a teacher,” says Akbari. “Slowly I became interested in finding other ways to help. Since then I have connected with the Afghans to try and move the work forward.
Akbari herself fell victim to the devastating series of earthquakes that struck Herat in October 2023, killing more than 2,000 people. “It was a very terrible day. We haven’t had an earthquake in years. It surprised us all.”
She remembers hearing a terrible noise that sounded like explosions. “You couldn’t even stand. The ground would collapse under you. Our house was on the third floor so it was especially bad. I remember telling the kids to run, just run. Don’t worry about me. They ran. I was in the stairwell when the ceiling caved in. I thought I was done.”
They spent the next few days seeking shelter in a local school. After two days, Akbari resumed her distribution efforts to those most affected.
“We are in the city. What else can we do if we don’t help? We will do our best. We will do the little we can do,” he says.
The most successful outcome may be aid through local residents like Akbari, who already know affected people, says longtime climate journalist Laurie Goering.
“This is a huge question in climate finance right now. How do you actually transfer such large sums of money from governments and organizations to those women in Afghanistan? Leveraging local systems and actors and finding intermediary groups to get more money where it’s needed is really important,” says Goering.
after the promotion of the newsletter
When it comes to how much compensation warring states owe for the destruction caused in Afghanistan, Goering says the United Nations Development Program’s casualty and damage fund is a good place to start. It is a new fund that aims to help poor nations cope with the damage caused by climate-induced natural disasters. Support will be offered in the form of grants.
“The fund is designed to help communities and countries recover from things they have not been able to adapt to,” says Goering. “So that money would be really useful in places like Afghanistan.”
Since coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban has remained excluded from the global scene. For Goering, this presents another challenge: “It’s difficult to raise funds if you are excluded from international systems. There’s a lot of thinking going on now about how to move money to very vulnerable places without it going through the government.”
Despite being one of the countries most vulnerable to global warming, due to its dry climate, mountainous topography and dependence on agriculture, Afghanistan was again excluded from the Cop28 climate talks last year, which Goering said was problematic.
“Afghanistan doesn’t have high emissions,” he says. “This is something that is happening globally that everyone needs to work together on. Otherwise, we won’t solve the problem.”
It’s a view shared by Rahmani, who believes that support from international institutions and existing data could go a long way: “We need to create a road map for every region of Afghanistan. In addition, 60% of Afghans are young. They can be learned. With a very small budget, they can be provided with employment, education and training in the field of climate.”
But to really tap into the potential of younger generations, Rahmani admits that better climate awareness is a crucial first step: “People think that this is God’s will, that it’s our sins that these disasters are happening to us and that there’s nothing we can do about it.” about it. Such beliefs and social behavior have a great influence.’
Rahmani also hopes to see more redress from warring parties as well as high-emitting countries.
“These countries have a responsibility,” he says. “This is happening because of them. Places like the United States, England, Brazil, and China—are keeping their industries alive with fossil fuels, adapting, and building resilience. But for Afghanistan, which is currently very limited in terms of global relations, these conditions are completely closed.
In March, the UN Security Council voted to extend its mission in Afghanistan for another year, but is focusing on the humanitarian crisis rather than climate impacts.
A parliamentary inquiry into the impact of the 20-year Dutch-NATO intervention in Afghanistan is also underway in the Netherlands. Similar initiatives by other countries that are part of the NATO campaign could speed up reparations and aid.
For Rahmani, prioritizing smart policies and expanding irrigation projects, such as those implemented in recent years in Nangarhar province, is the way to go.
“A while ago we had a big climate project supported by millions of dollars. But unfortunately, all works are on hold. We need funding. These are very serious problems. It is very necessary for the people of the world to unite so that we can solve these problems.”
Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the large-scale conflict has diminished significantly. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, no new conflict-related displacement was recorded in 2023. However, by the end of this year, 1.5 million people were still internally displaced due to natural disasters.
For the resident of Baghlan Nafas, the most urgent need for the affected is clean water. He hopes the humanitarian response will offer a solution before the situation on the ground worsens.
“All the water systems were damaged,” he says. “All the canals are covered with mud. There is no drinking water, no water for washing, for people’s livestock, for agriculture. Revenues are also suspended. People live in makeshift tents. It’s chaos. It is hot now, but the cold season will soon come.”
The names of the interviewees have been changed to protect their identities.
#War #deforestation #floods #connected #Afghanistan