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Pakistani rescuers dug homes out from under massive boulders on Sunday as they searched for survivors of flash floods that killed at least 344 people, with more than 150 still missing.Since Thursday, torrential rains across the country have caused flooding, rising waters and landslides that have swept away entire villages and left many residents trapped in the rubble.Most of the deaths, 317, were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where monsoon rains that are only expected to intensify in the days ahead drove flooding and landslides that collapsed houses.More than 150 people are missing in hardest-hit Buner district, where at least 208 people were killed and “10 to 12 entire villages” were partially buried, officials told AFP.”They could be trapped under the rubble of their homes or swept away by floodwaters,” said Asfandyar Khattak, head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority. “Separately, in Shangla district, dozens of people are also reported missing,” Khattak added.”There is no electricity or mobile signal in Buner, as power lines and mobile towers were damaged,” he added.The spokesman for the province’s rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were involved across nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts.”The operation to rescue people trapped under debris is ongoing,” said Bilal Ahmad Faizi.”The chances of those buried under the debris surviving are very slim,” he added.AFP journalists in Buner saw half-buried vehicles and belongings lying strewn in the sludge, with mud covering houses and shops.A grave digger, Qaiser Ali Shah, told AFP he dug 29 burial places in the last two days.”I have also dug six graves for children. With each grave, it felt as though I was digging it for my own child,” he told AFP.”For the first time, my body simply refused to carry me through. That’s why today I apologised and said I cannot do this work anymore.”Flooded roads hampered the movement of rescue vehicles, as a few villagers worked to cut fallen trees to clear the way after the water receded.”Our belongings are scattered, ruined and are in bad shape,” shopkeeper Noor Muhammad told AFP as he used a shovel to remove mud.”The shops have been destroyed along with everything else. Even the little money people had has been washed away,” he added.The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.”We were trapped in our homes and could not get out,” another Buner resident, Syed Wahab Bacha, told AFP.”Our entire poor community has been affected… This road was our only path, and it too has been washed away,” he added.- Mass funerals -On Saturday, hundreds gathered for mass funerals, where bodies wrapped in blood-stained white shawls were laid out on the village ground.Fallen trees and straw debris were scattered across nearby fields, while residents shovelled mud out of their homes.Pakistan’s meteorological department has forecast “torrential rains” with monsoon activity “likely to intensify” from Sunday onwards.The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but also brings destruction.”The intensity of this year’s monsoon is around 50 to 60 percent more than last year,” said Lieutenant General Inam Haider, chairman of the national disaster agency.”Two to three more monsoon spells are expected until the first weeks of September,” he told journalists in Islamabad.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon have killed more than 650 people, with more than 920 injured.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP on Saturday that residents had spent the night searching through the rubble of their former homes.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” said 32-year-old schoolteacher Saifullah Khan.”I helped retrieve the bodies of the children I taught. I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids,” he said.

Next to small bundles of belongings, Maruf waited for a car to take him and his family away from their village in northern Afghanistan, where drought-ridden land had yielded nothing for years.”When you have children and are responsible for their needs, then tell me, what are you still doing in this ruin?” said the 50-year-old.Many of the mud homes around him are already empty, he said, his neighbours having abandoned the village, fleeing “thirst, hunger and a life with no future”.Successive wars displaced Afghans over 40 years, but peace has not brought total reprieve, as climate change-fuelled shocks drive people from their homes and strain livelihoods.Since the war ended between the now-ruling Taliban and US-led forces in 2021, floods, droughts and other climate change-driven environmental hazards have become the main cause of displacement in the country, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).In early 2025, nearly five million people across the country were impacted and nearly 400,000 people were displaced, the IOM said in July, citing its Climate Vulnerability Assessment.The majority of Afghans live in mud homes and depend heavily on agriculture and livestock, making them particularly exposed to environmental changes.The water cycle has been sharply impacted, with Afghanistan again in the grip of drought for the fourth time in five years and flash floods devastating land, homes and livelihoods.”Crop failure, dry pastures and vanishing water sources are pushing rural communities to the edge,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in July.”It’s getting harder for families to grow food, earn income or stay where they are.”Experts and Taliban officials have repeatedly warned of escalating climate risks as temperatures rise, extreme weather events intensify and precipitation patterns shift.The country’s limited infrastructure, endemic poverty and international isolation leave Afghans with few resources to adapt and recover — while already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises worsened by severe aid cuts.- Too little -Abdul Jalil Rasooli’s village in the drought-hit north has watched their way of life wither with their crops.Drought already drove many from his village to Pakistan and Iran a decade ago.Now they’ve returned, forced back over the border along with more than four million others from the two neighbouring countries since late 2023 — but to work odd jobs, not the land.”Everything comes down to water,” said the 64-year-old, retreating from the day’s heat in the only home in the village still shaded by leafy trees.”Water scarcity ruins everything, it destroys farming, the trees are drying up, and there’s no planting anymore,” he told AFP.Rasooli holds out hope that the nearby Qosh Tepa canal will bring irrigation from the Amu Darya river. Diggers are carving out the last section of the waterway, but its completion is more than a year away, officials told AFP.It’s one of the water infrastructure projects the Taliban authorities have undertaken since ousting the foreign-backed government four years ago.But the theocratic government, largely isolated on the global stage over its restrictions on women, has limited resources to address a crisis long exacerbated by poor environmental, infrastructure and resource management during 40 years of conflict. “The measures we have taken so far are not enough,” Energy and Water Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor told journalists in July, rattling off a list of dam and canal projects in the pipeline.”There are a lot of droughts… this is Allah’s will, first we must turn to Allah.”Hamayoun Amiri left for Iran when he was a young man and drought struck his father’s small plot of land in western Herat province.Forced to return in a June deportation campaign, he found himself back where he started 14 years ago — with nothing to farm and his father’s well water “getting lower and lower every day”.The Harirud river was a dry bed in July as it neared the border with downstream Iran, following a road lined with empty mud buildings pummelled back to dust by the province’s summer gales. – Too much -Taliban authorities often hold prayers for rain, but while the lack of water has parched the land in some parts of the country, changes in precipitation patterns mean rains can be more of a threat than a blessing.This year, rains have come earlier and heavier amid above-average temperatures, increasing flood risks, the UN said.A warmer atmosphere holds more water, so rain often comes in massive, destructive quantities.”The weather has changed,” said Mohammad Qasim, a community leader of several villages in central Maidan Wardak battered by flash floods in June.”I’m around 54 years old, and we have never experienced problems like this before,” he told AFP in the riverbed full of boulders and cracked mud. Eighteen-year-old Wahidullah’s family was displaced after their home was damaged beyond repair and all their livestock were drowned. The family of 11 slept in or near a rudimentary tent on high ground, with no plans or means to rebuild.”We’re worried that if another flood comes, then there will be nothing left and nowhere to go.”

Rescuers struggled to retrieve bodies from muddy debris on Saturday after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 344 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said.The majority of deaths, 324, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the National Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, while at least 137 others were injured.One resident told AFP it felt like “the end of the world” as the ground shook with the force of the water. The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts.”Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency, told AFP.He said road closures meant rescue workers had to walk to some of the disaster sites in remote regions.”They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris,” Faizi said.Buner district deputy commissioner Kashif Qayum Khan also said rescuers were forced to find new ways to reach remote areas.”Many more people may still be trapped under the debris, which local residents cannot clear manually,” Khan told AFP. The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.The meteorological department has also issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.Eleven more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and another nine in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, national officials said.Five more were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.- ‘Profound trauma’ -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.The national disaster agency’s Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.It would also increase in intensity over the next fortnight, he said.In Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, resident Azizullah said he “thought it was doomsday”.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding,” he told AFP. “The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”An AFP journalist saw three excavators clearing mud and wood from the completely flattened site, while dozens of rescuers and residents also dug through the debris.”My daughter’s dowry worth around five hundred thousand rupees ($1,760) was washed away in the flood,” resident Abdul Hayat told AFP.”We don’t even have clothes to wear, the food was also swept away,” he said.Others cleared heavy rocks with their hands and with shovels.”People are still lying under the debris… Those who were swept away are being searched for downstream,” said resident Abdul Khan.In picturesque Swat district, an AFP photographer saw roads submerged in muddy water, downed electricity poles and vehicles half-buried in mud.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 650 people, with more than 905 injured.In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP residents kept on searching through the rubble overnight.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” said 32-year-old schoolteacher Saifullah Khan.”I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids,” he said.

Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 344 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday. The majority of deaths, 328, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, while at least 120 others were injured.One resident told AFP it felt like “the end of the world” was coming, as the ground shook with the force of the water. The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine affected districts where rain was still hampering efforts.”Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” said Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency.”Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions,” he told AFP.”They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.”The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.Eleven more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the national disaster authority said.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.- ‘Reeling from profound trauma’ -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.In Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, resident Azizullah said he “thought it was doomsday”.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” he told AFP. “The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill.On Friday, funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.In the picturesque district of Swat, an AFP photographer saw roads submerged in muddy water, electricity poles grounded, and vehicles half-buried in mud.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 650 people, with more than 880 injured.In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP residents kept on searching through the rubble overnight.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” said 32-year-old schoolteacher Saifullah Khan.”We still have no clear idea who in this small village is alive and who is dead,” he added.”I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids.”

Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday.The majority of deaths, 307, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 15 women and 13 children. At least 23 others were injured.The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine affected districts where rain was still hampering efforts.”Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency, told AFP.”Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions,” he added.”They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.”The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest for the next few hours, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the national disaster authority said.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.- ‘Doomsday’ monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.One resident likened the disaster to “doomsday”.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” Azizullah, a resident of Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, told AFP.”I thought it was doomsday,” he said. “The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill.On Friday, funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 600 people.In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP locals kept on searching through the rubble throughout the night.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” 32-year-old local schoolteacher Saifullah Khan told AFP.”We still have no clear idea who in this small village is alive and who is dead,” he added.”I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities marked the fourth anniversary of their takeover on Friday buoyed by Russia’s first official recognition of their government, a step they hope other countries will follow.Helicopters circled above Kabul, dropping flower petals over the city to mark the Taliban seizure of the capital on August 15, 2021.Taliban members and supporters leaned out of trucks and rickshaws on the streets below waving the black-and-white “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” flags.They also carried yellow jerry cans — a common receptacle for homemade bombs during the 20-year war against US-led forces. Celebrations were organised across the country, although a military parade like the one held with much fanfare last year at the Bagram airbase, once the linchpin for US-led operations, was cancelled without public explanation. A gathering was held instead at the enormous Loya Jirga Hall in Kabul, where hundreds of men listened to ministers praise the government’s achievements.Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who remains largely secluded in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar, did not attend but, in a statement read by a spokesman, hailed the return of security to Afghanistan.”Our people were saved from corruption, oppression, usurpation, narcotics, theft, plunder and looting in the light of Islamic laws,” the statement said.”A positive environment was created for the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan.” The speeches did not mention the steep challenges facing a country gripped by one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations. In Jalalabad in the east, farmer Zabihullah — who like many Afghans only uses one name — celebrated the Taliban takeover but also hoped authorities would address poverty and unemployment.”They should address the bad situation in the country, because of unemployment poor Afghans are going from one country to another, some die, some are detained, it is a chaotic situation,” the 45-year-old told AFP.The Taliban government remains largely isolated on the global stage over restrictions imposed under their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with women facing restrictions the UN has deemed “gender apartheid”.The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in July for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over the persecution of women and girls who are banned from most education and work.Women and girls are also barred from parks and gyms, and from travelling without a male guardian.- International engagement -The Taliban authorities scored a victory in July when Russia became the first country to officially recognise their administration.Kabul also enjoys close ties with China, Qatar and several Central Asian states.The Taliban government has reported talks in Kabul with officials from Western states, including Norway, Britain and the United States. International Crisis Group analyst Ibraheem Bahiss said women’s rights are still important to the international community but other issues, particularly security, take precedence.”Even Europe — because it has a core interest with migration — has continued to pursue engagement,” he told AFP, although discussions with Taliban authorities on women’s rights were “a complete non-starter”. The Taliban authorities have almost no internal opposition but struggle with economic fragility, international aid cuts and the influx of four million Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries.The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) condemned any engagement with the Taliban authorities in a statement. Contrary to its claims, RAWA said, the Taliban government “is not dedicated to ensuring peace and human dignity but is bent on destroying the last vestiges of our people’s most basic rights”. Independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council called on the international community on Thursday not to normalise relations with the Taliban authorities and to reject their “violent and authoritarian rule”. “Operating without legitimacy, the Taliban enforces an institutionalised system of gender oppression, crushes dissent, exacts reprisals, and muzzles independent media,” they said in a statement.

Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan have killed at least 199 people in the past 24 hours, national and local officials said on Friday.Of those killed, 180 were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where one resident likened the disaster to “doomsday”.Another nine people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, along with five in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the National Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 19 women and 17 children. At least 28 others were injured.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission, the province’s chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, said in a statement.The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra and Battagram disaster-hit areas.In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill, AFP photos showed. Funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” Azizullah, a resident of Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, told AFP.”I thought it was doomsday,” he said.”The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face,” said Azizullah who, like many in the region, uses only one name.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest, urging people to avoid “unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas”.In the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a region divided with Pakistan, rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble on Friday after a flood crashed through a Himalayan village, killing at least 60 people and washing away dozens more.- Prolonged monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and is expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.The provincial government has declared Saturday a day of mourning, chief minister Gandapur said.”The national flag will fly at half-mast across the province, and the martyrs will be laid to rest with full state honours,” the statement from his office said.Scientists say that climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 500 people, including 159 children. In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.

Heavy monsoon rains have triggered landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan, leaving at least 169 people dead in the last 24 hours, national and local officials said Friday.The majority of the deaths, 150, were recorded in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, it said.The majority of those killed have died in flash floods and collapsing houses.Five others, including two pilots, were killed when a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a mission to deliver relief goods, the chief minister of the province, Ali Amin Gandapur, said in a statement.The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd amassed around an excavator trawling a mud-soaked hill, AFP photos showed. Funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging people to avoid “unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas”.In the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a region divided with Pakistan, rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble on Friday after a flood crashed through a Himalayan village, killing at least 60 people and washing away dozens more.- Prolonged monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and is expected to end later.”The next 15 days, particularly from August 16 till the 30th of August, the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he added.The provincial government has declared Saturday as a day of mourning, chief minister Gandapur said.”The national flag will fly at half-mast across the province, and the martyrs will be laid to rest with full state honours,” the statement from his office said. Scientists say that climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 320 people, nearly half of them children. In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.In 2022, monsoon floods submerged a third of the country and killed 1,700 people.

Indian rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble Friday after the latest deadly flood to crash through a Himalayan village killed at least 60 people and washed away dozens more.Torrents of water and mud driven by intense rain tore through Chisoti village in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday, leaving dozens missing, including Hindu pilgrims who were visiting a shrine.It is the second major deadly flooding disaster in India this month.Officials said a large makeshift kitchen in Chisoti, where more than 100 pilgrims were, was completely washed away by what Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported was a sudden “cloudburst” rain storm.Arun Shah, 35, had just completed his pilgrimage with his family when the flood struck.”It was horrifying”, he told AFP, speaking by telephone from a hospital in Kishtwar district, where Chisoti is located.”Boulders and a rush of water came down from the mountain. We all got separated while trying to save ourselves,” he said.Kishtwar district hospital head Yudhvir Kotwal told AFP more than 100 people were brought in after the disaster.”Most of the injured had head injuries, fractured bones and ribs,” Kotwal said, adding that “dead bodies are still being retrieved from under the mud and rubble”.Heavy earthmovers were brought to the disaster area to dig through deep mud.The army’s White Knight Corps said its troops, “braving the harsh weather and rugged terrain, are engaged in evacuation of injured”.Emergency supplies including ropes and digging tools were being brought to the disaster site, with the army supporting other rescue teams.Mohammad Irshad, a top disaster management official, told AFP on Friday that “60 people are recorded dead”, with 80 people unaccounted for. Floods and landslides are common during the June-September monsoon season, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency, severity and impact.Floods on August 5 overwhelmed the Himalayan town of Dharali in India’s Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has not been confirmed.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” of what is to come as climate change makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.Roads had already been damaged by days of heavy storms in Kishtwar district. The area lies more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the region’s main city Srinagar.Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the spate of disasters in his Independence Day speech in New Delhi on Friday.”In the past few days, we have been facing natural disasters, landslides, cloudbursts, and many other calamities,” he said.”Our sympathies are with the affected people. State governments and the central government are working together with full strength.” 

The annual Rugby Championship, featuring World Cup title-holders South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, kicks off on Saturday amid uncertainty over its future.New Zealand will do an eight-match tour of South Africa next year, including three Tests, during the August to October window when the Championship is staged.   That tour is aimed at boosting the coffers of the two national rugby bodies, and rules out the Springboks and All Blacks being involved in a double-round Championship as well. Australia are set to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the Championship has always been reduced from a double to single round in years when the global showpiece takes place.   Adding to the long-term uncertainty is South Africa agreeing to an eight-match tour of New Zealand in 2030.Record four-time world champions South Africa and Australia get what could be the last six-round Rugby Championship, at least for the foreseeable future, underway at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.A few hours later, nine-time Championship winners New Zealand take on Argentina in Cordoba.Pre-Championship discussions among Springbok supporters centred around the chances on September 6 of South Africa defeating greatest rivals New Zealand in Auckland for the first time since 1937.The matches against Australia — they clash again on August 23 in Cape Town — were rarely discussed as the fortunes of the Wallabies had hit rock bottom in the past two years.  – Unwanted history -Australia created unwanted history at the 2023 World Cup in France by failing to make the knockout stages for the first time.Last year, they suffered a 40-point loss in Argentina, one of five defeats in six Championship matches.But the just completed three-Test series against the British and Irish Lions saw dramatic Test-by-Test improvement, culminating in a 22-12 triumph in the last encounter under a Sydney deluge.Australia lost the series 2-1, but impressed with their physicality and passion, with Lions coach Andy Farrell among their cheerleaders.”I think special things are going to happen for this team (Australia) over the next 18 months. By the time the World Cup comes round, they will be a force to reckon with,” he said.South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was particularly impressed with the work of the Australian pack, led by captain and No 8 Harry Wilson, at the breakdowns.This was an area where the Springboks did not always impose themselves when beating Italy twice and Georgia comfortably in warm-up matches.”They (Australians) really fight hard at the breakdowns and clean out well. We have to nullify that threat,” said Erasmus. While South Africa have become wary of Australia, tradition favours a home victory as the Springboks have won 10 of 11 Tests against the Wallabies at Ellis Park.In Cordoba, New Zealand will be favoured to beat Argentina, but the days when an All Blacks victory over the Pumas was taken for granted are over.Three-time World Cup winners New Zealand won 28 of the first 29 Tests against the South Americans, with the other drawn.But the unpredictable Pumas have won three of 10 internationals between the countries since, two of which came in Christchurch and Wellington. “We want to play fast and be really strong at the set-pieces. Our team is really trying to find its identity this year,” All Blacks prop Fletcher Newell told reporters in Cordoba.New Zealand warmed up with a hat-trick of victories over France, who lacked many resting stars, including scrum-half Antoine Dupont. Argentina confirmed their hard-to-fathom form by beating the British and Irish Lions in Dublin, then losing twice at home to a severely-weakened England.”The key is to give our backs a plentiful supply of ball. They have the ability to cause problems for any opponents,” said Argentina loose forward Marcos Kremer.