More Than 60 Killed as Heavy Snow and Rain Isolate Villages Across Afghanistan

Three days that changed everything

For three straight days, snow kept falling and rain would not let up. Across much of Afghanistan, the weather pressed down without pause. Roofs groaned. Roads disappeared. Entire valleys went quiet.

By Saturday, the country’s disaster management authority confirmed at least 61 people dead and more than 110 injured in 15 provinces. Officials stressed that the numbers were not final. Many areas were still unreachable.

In village after village, help simply could not get through.

How people lost their lives

Most of the deaths came suddenly and close to home.

Disaster officials said many victims were killed when roofs collapsed under heavy snow. Others were caught in avalanches. Some died quietly from frostbite, exposed to freezing temperatures with nowhere warm to go.

In Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, six children were killed when strong winds and heavy rain caused the roof of their house to cave in. Similar scenes were reported elsewhere. Walls fell. Rooms filled with debris.

“These are initial figures," authorities said, confirming 458 homes destroyed or damaged and 360 families affected.

Roads blocked, power cut, isolation deepens

The storm did not only take lives. It cut lifelines.

The Salang Highway, a crucial route linking Kabul, Afghanistan, with the north, was closed as snow choked the mountain pass. Travelers became stranded in freezing conditions. In Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, food had to be distributed to people stuck on the road.

Electricity also failed. A transmission line bringing power from Uzbekistan was damaged, leaving nearly 12 provinces in the dark.

“Our teams are ready," said Mohammad Sadiq, spokesman for the national power utility. “But they cannot reach the area because the pass is blocked."

The cold spread. The darkness stayed.

Livestock lost, rural life shaken

In rural Afghanistan, the storm hit livelihoods as hard as it hit homes.

Hundreds of animals were killed. Shops were damaged. Snow buried grazing land, while floodwaters swept through villages where families depend almost entirely on livestock.

An editorial in the Kabul Times captured the contrast clearly: snow and rain can be a blessing, but without preparation, they turn into disaster.

A familiar danger in an exposed country

Afghanistan is no stranger to extreme weather. Heavy snow, flash floods, droughts, and earthquakes often strike communities already weakened by decades of conflict, fragile infrastructure, deforestation, and poverty.

In 2024, spring floods killed more than 300 people. Eastern regions are still recovering from earthquakes last year that destroyed villages and killed over 2,200 people.

Those displaced by the quakes remain especially vulnerable. In December, UNICEF warned that about 270,000 children in affected areas faced severe risks from cold-related illness.

Humanitarian strain grows heavier

The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan will remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026. Nearly 18 million people need urgent assistance, and around half of the population is expected to rely on aid this year.

Snow still blocks passes.
Rain still falls on damaged homes.
In many places, winter has only tightened its grip.