"Around 200 families had to be rescued by helicopter yesterday after water levels in the Gorband river rose overnight on Friday," UN spokesman David Singh told reporters at a press conference.

"Some people managed to escape to higher areas to the north and south of the river but many people were trapped in their homes as the water levels rose quickly."

The rescue operation began Saturday morning using a Ministry of Defence helicopter. One of the worst-hit villages was in Jabul Seraj district, some 60 kilometres (38 miles) north of the Afghan capital.

Singh said an emergency meeting was being held Sunday at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development with UN agencies and non-governmental organisations to coordinate relief for the 200 families displaced by the flooding.

Those affected were likely to be provided with tents, blankets and food aid, he said.

Parts of the Shomali plain, which was the frontline in fighting between the Taliban and Northern Alliance, are regularly flooded with the arrival of the wet season in spring.

Singh also said emergency aid had finally reached two remote villages in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which were hit by an earthquake on April 11.

Yaka Baghi and Sad Baghi villages in Takhar province, which borders Tajikistan, were affected by the earthquake, which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale.

A consignment of tents, blankets and shoes only arrived on Friday, more than a week after the quake, due to the remote and inaccessible location of the mountain villages, he said.

Neighbouring Baghlan province was hit by a large quake last year which left hundreds dead and thousands of people homeless.

SPACE.WIRE