INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Afghanistan is grappling with intensifying drought conditions as the country continues to record below-average precipitation levels, the

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said on Thursday. Only a few isolated areas are nearing normal

rainfall, while nationwide cumulative precipitation remains significantly lower than the seasonal average, UNOCHA said in a report. The snow

water equivalent — a critical measure of snowpack and future water availability — is also trending below average and declining across

most of the country : s river basins

This pattern is contributing to an escalating water scarcity crisis. Surface temperatures have been consistently above average across

Afghanistan, excluding some northeastern areas. Forecasts for the coming months predict continued above-average temperatures combined with

below-average precipitation — conditions that are expected to intensify water shortages, reduce crop productivity, and degrade

pasturelands vital to livestock. As of March 2025, the northern provinces of Faryab and Jawzjan are the most severely impacted by

drought. Additional regions facing warning-level conditions include Helmand in the south, Herat in the west, Kunduz in the northeast, and

Nangarhar in the east. The post Drought conditions deepen across Afghanistan amid continued low rainfall and rising temperatures first

appeared on TINS News | Afghanistan News.