Flash floods in a remote province in northwestern Afghanistan have killed at least 15 people, left scores missing and stranded thousands more, government officials said as NATO forces pledged to send aid. Heavy rain lashed Badghis province's Balamurghab and Ghormach districts Thursday, inundating many remote villages surrounded by mountains, the Associated Press quoted provincial government official Mirza Ahmad as saying. NATO and Afghan officials have been discussing emergency relief, with alliance helicopters preparing to take in blankets, food and other aid to flood-affected areas, Kabul-based NATO spokesman Maj. Luke Knittig said.
