Flash floods kill 17 in Afghanistan

Heavy rains caused flash floods in western Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people, destroying homes and sweeping through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said yesterday. Two days of flooding that started on Thursday killed 12 people in Jawzjan and two in Badghis, provinces that border Turkmenistan. Two others were killed in Herat and another in Sar-e Pul province.