Local officials in Badghis have reported that heavy rainfall from midnight until Saturday morning claimed the lives of five people in the province.

According to officials, three people died in Qadis district, while two others, including a three-year-old child, lost their lives in Dara-e-Bum district.

The Badghis Department for Disaster Management stated that the floods not only caused fatalities but also inflicted significant financial losses on local residents and destroyed agricultural land.

However, complete information on the extent of damage and casualties is not yet available. Staff from various government departments have been dispatched to affected areas to conduct preliminary surveys.

Meanwhile, heavy rains and floods in western Afghanistan temporarily blocked the Herat–Kandahar Highway.

According to Mohammad Israil Sayar, head of the Disaster Management Department in Farah province, recent rainfall has caused the Farah River to swell significantly. He added that the situation has now returned to normal, and traffic along the highway has resumed.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), has called on the Pakistani government to reassess its Afghanistan policy, warning that the country risks increasing diplomatic isolation across the region.

Addressing a ceremony organized by JUI-F leader Kafeel Nizami, Rehman criticized what he described as contradictory state narratives toward Afghanistan. He questioned why bilateral relations have failed to improve despite more than seven decades of engagement.

“We must reflect on whether all the mistakes lie on Afghanistan’s side,” he said, urging policymakers to abandon efforts aimed at maintaining influence over Kabul. He emphasized that a stable and sovereign Afghanistan would better serve regional peace and long-term strategic interests.

The JUI-F chief also cautioned against repeated attempts at regime change, arguing that such approaches have historically deepened instability. He linked past conflicts and interventionist policies to ongoing regional tensions.

Criticizing United States foreign policy, Rehman described Washington’s approach as inconsistent, saying it shifts positions depending on circumstances. He urged Pakistan to avoid entanglement in great-power rivalries and instead pursue an independent, sovereignty-driven diplomatic strategy.

Rehman further warned that Pakistan’s relations with India, Iran, and Afghanistan are under strain, while several regional states are strengthening partnerships with India.

He concluded by calling for a unified national foreign policy, stressing the need for collective decision-making among political stakeholders rather than reliance on a single party’s approach.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticized the United States’ efforts at regime change in countries like Afghanistan, describing them as largely unsuccessful.

Speaking at a forum in Frankfurt on Friday, organized by the FAZ newspaper, Merz questioned the effectiveness of regime change as a strategy. “Is regime change really the goal?” he asked, adding that such efforts have “mostly gone wrong” in past conflicts, particularly the war in Afghanistan.

Merz expressed significant doubts about the existence of a coherent and successful strategy for regime change, remarking, “I have serious doubts as to whether there is a strategy and whether that strategy is being successfully implemented.” He warned that without a clear plan, such efforts could take even longer to achieve, if at all.

The Chancellor pointed out that, in his view, the only successful regime change in recent decades occurred in Panama. In contrast, Merz stated that most other attempts, including in Afghanistan, have failed to deliver the intended outcomes.

His comments come amid widespread domestic and international criticism of the U.S. military presence and withdrawal from Afghanistan, following nearly two decades of conflict that culminated in the Islamic Emirate’s return to power.