A park in Kabul is blanketed in snow
Over 40 people have been confirmed dead on Sunday as snowstorms wreak havoc on various parts of Afghanistan, prompting the government to declare Sunday a public holiday.
The unprecedented snow in a decade has led to the closure of main highways leaving many people stranded, out of power and other supplies.
A high-level meeting chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani directed the concerned officials and departments to be on their toes in response to the harsh winter.
According to the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the extraordinary snowfall has particularly affected some 19 provinces where up to 100 homes have been completely destroyed.
Syed Abdul Humayun Dehqaan, head of the Badakhshan chapter of the NDMA, told Anadolu Agency heavy snowfall in Maimy and Yaran districts of the province has claimed 18 lives and has left 12 people critically injured.
The heavy snowstorm has also closed roads in Paktya, Khost, Parwan, Sar-i-Pul, Jawzjan, Bamyan, Daikundi, Paktika and Ghazni provinces as well.
Fourteen people were killed and four wounded in an avalanche in the Surkh Parsa district of central Parwan province. Seven casualties have been confirmed in the southeastern provinces while at least six people have reportedly died in the northwest on Sunday.
The southern Kandahar province has also received an unprecedented snowfall in over two decades. Four main road links between the capital Kabul and the rest of the country are literally closed for traffic due to thick layers of snow.
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Sunday declared a public holiday as unprecedented snowfall blocks roads, delays domestic and international flights
Piles of snow on the runway of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport also delayed a number of domestic and international flights.
On the other side of the border, at least nine people, including children, were killed by an avalanche in northern Pakistan's Chitral district, with as many as 14 residents still trapped in collapsed houses, said district official Syed Maghferat Shah.
"So far the rescue workers have recovered nine bodies and efforts are under way to retrieve more," he said.
The snow wreaked havoc on major roads in Afghanistan,including the Kabul-Kandahar Highway, where police and soldiers had to rescue around 250 cars and buses trapped by the storm, said Jawid Salangi, a spokesman for Ghazni province, where as much as two metres of new snow was reported.
"Some people were carried to local residents' houses and some to military and police checkpoints," he said, noting that officials expected the road to reopen quickly. "Fortunately we arrived on time and there is not a single causality."
The Salang pass north of Kabul was also closed under as much as two and a half metres of snow, according to police general Rajab Salangi, who oversees the area.
"It will remain blocked until the snow is cleared from the main road, facilities are provided and it is safe to travel," he said.
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