BUNER / MUZAFFARABAD / GILGIT – Torrential monsoon rains have unleashed deadly flash floods and landslides across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), leaving at least 78 people dead, many of them women and children. Authorities have declared a state of emergency in several regions, while schools in AJK have been shut for two days.
According to the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 60 people were killed in the past 24 hours in mountainous areas hit by cloudbursts and flash floods. Bajaur suffered the highest toll, with 21 deaths, while Lower Dir, Battagram, Swat, and Shangla also reported casualties.
The deputy commissioner of Buner claimed an even higher figure, stating that at least 75 people had died in his district alone, with 56 bodies already shifted to hospitals.
In GB, at least 10 people were killed, and several remain missing after landslides and floods destroyed homes in Ghizer, Diamer, and Astore valleys. Roads connecting the region to the rest of the country, including the Karakoram Highway, have been blocked.
AJK authorities confirmed eight deaths, including six members of the same family in Muzaffarabad’s Naseerabad Tehsil. Flash floods swept through Bagh, Jhelum Valley, Samahni, Hattian Bala, and Neelum Valley, destroying dozens of houses and disrupting mobile networks.
Prime Minister of AJK, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, chaired an emergency meeting, announcing relocation of vulnerable riverbank residents, financial aid for affected families, and emergency checkpoints to monitor water levels. Over 700 tourists remain stranded in Neelum Valley’s Ratti Gali after sections of the road were washed away.
This year’s monsoon season has already claimed over 300 lives nationwide, with experts warning that climate change is intensifying extreme weather events in Pakistan. In 2022, similar floods killed more than 1,700 people and submerged a third of the country.
