The Panjshir Valley, already hard hit with snow slides earlier this week, was hit anew with fresh avalanches, reports the provincial governor, Abdul Rahman Kabiri. He told the BBC avalanches 40m (130ft) high have paralysed new areas in the north-eastern province.
Villagers in the Panjshir valley have been cut off from rescue workers for almost a week. Workers with bulldozers have been trying to clear roads to get to the isolated region. Hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Najimudin Khan, the deputy provincial police chief of Panjshir province, located about 60 miles from Kabul, said workers are digging in the deep snow, discovering more bodies, including women and children.
The worst hit place is Paryan, and as of today, it is still unreachable. The air force has been using helicopters to drop warm food to seven badly affected villages, as well as continuing to rescue stranded people, not just in Panjshir, but in other areas. Describing the situation as a national tragedy, President Ashraf Ghani has called for three days of national mourning for the victims. He also has cancelled a trip to Iran because of the situation in his country.
Afghanistan has suffered through several decades of war since the Soviet invasion of the country in 1979. But natural disasters, like floods, avalanches and landslides have also taken a heavy toll. This is made worse because there is very little infrastructure in the country, other than in a few major cities.
