Severe cold, snow claim 120 lives in Afghanistan

Two weeks of heavy snowfalls, avalanches and severe cold in Afghanistan have killed 120 people and tens of thousands of domestic animals, government officials said Wednesday.
Parts of northern Afghanistan are under 3.5 metres (11 feet) of snow with several roads blocked, cutting off scores of remote villages and districts, the disaster management department said. In two weeks to Tuesday, 106 people were recorded dead. Nearly 30,000 animals were also killed and more than 50 districts cut off, it said in a statement.