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Avalanches in Afghanistan claim nearly 300 lives

By Andrew V. Pestano
Avalanches in northern Afghanistan can be common -- dozens died in 2010 and 2012. The recent avalanches have been the worst in about 30 years. File Photo by UPI/Raflullah Mohibat/Afghan National Army
Avalanches in northern Afghanistan can be common -- dozens died in 2010 and 2012. The recent avalanches have been the worst in about 30 years. File Photo by UPI/Raflullah Mohibat/Afghan National Army | License Photo

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 1 (UPI) -- Avalanches in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, about 60 miles north of Kabul, have killed at least 268 people in the past few days.

The avalanches reached heights of 130 feet, provincial governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri told BBC News.

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"The Afghan security forces are our hope," Kabiri said. "We have only one road that reaches the affected areas, and it still needs to be cleared."

Authorities are rushing to bring aid to the remote villages in Panjshir Valley and other surrounding areas that have been engulfed by the avalanches, according to The Wall Street Journal. Police and military troops are working to clear roads as military helicopters carry fuel and emergency supplies to the afflicted areas.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani described the avalanches as a national tragedy and the country has begun three days of mourning for the victims.

"My life is destroyed," Farhad Haidari said, pointing through a helicopter window to a collapsed house. "That house was all the property I had in the world." Six of Haidari's family members died.

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A police officer said he expected the Afghan government to respond better to the disaster, suggesting that if the U.S.-led coalition was still intact that the casualties would not be so high.

"They could have done a better rescue operation," he said. "They are sending us toothpaste, it won't solve our problems. We need basic living supplies. We need coffins to bury our loved ones."

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