On Friday in Baghraan district "due to heavy floods five houses in the Sha Gho valley were destroyed completely," Haji Mohammad Wali, the spokesman for Helmand governor Mullah Shir Mohammad, told AFP by telephone from the provincial capital Lashkargah.

"Thirty people were killed, they've found five bodies but they couldn't find the bodies of the other 25," who were washed away.

Days of heavy rain had triggered the deadly floods which also destroyed farmland in the Baghraan area 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of Kabul.

"District elders say they haven't seen such bad floods in 25-30 years," he said.

Meanwhile three children were missing and 200 families had to be evacuated by helicopter after flood waters swept through their homes on the Shomali plain just north of Kabul, a UN spokesman said.

"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