At least 135 dead in Pakistan and Afghanistan as flooding continues to slam region [Video]

Death tolls across parts of central Asia have risen sharply as unusually extreme weather has continued to slam the region in recent days, with the combined tolls across hard-hit Pakistan and Afghanistan rose to at least 135 on Wednesday, officials said.

About 70 people have been killed in the last five days by heavy rains lashing Afghanistan, the government’s disaster management department said. A similar number was reported Wednesday out of Pakistan, where images showed crowds of pedestrians earlier in the week wading through deep water that had pooled in public streets and on bridges. Officials said 65 people have been killed in storm-related incidents as Pakistan has been hammered by spring downpours, in which rain falls at nearly twice the historical average rate.

Afghanistan was parched by an unusually dry winter which desiccated the earth, exacerbating flash-flooding caused by spring downpours in …