Feature: Nature's cruel wrath kills poor Afghans, adds to deprivation

"Still I don't believe that my mother is dead but she died in the avalanche that struck our home last week," a 16-year-old boy Samihullah tells Xinhua outside his destroyed house in the mountainous Panjshir valley.

Parts of war-torn Afghanistan have experienced catastrophic snowfall, snowstorms and deadly avalanches in its recent history, but last week the eastern province of Panjshir suffered the most as nearly 200 people lost their lives and many others got injured.

The three-day rain, snow-storm and avalanches have claimed more than 300 lives including women and children across Afghanistan, at least 196 of them in Panjshir, according to officials.

Taling with Xinhua, Panjishir's police chief Abdul Aziz Ghairat says the figure may increase as rescue operations are still going on in some avalanche-hit areas.

"It was midnight and snowing and we were all asleep, suddenly a powerful avalanche with a loud bang hit our house, forcing me to stand up terrified," the petrified Samihullah recalls.

"It was like the end of the world as you could hear the cry of children and adults from all around and the shouts calling for help."

Samihullah has lost his mother along with four sisters in the disaster.

Samihullah is from Abdullahkhil village where dozens of houses have been completely destroyed or badly damaged.

Dwellers of the village are the most underprivileged segment of the war-ravaged country as they live in mud houses with no electricity or running water.

Although eight days have passed, Panjshir is still under a blanket of snow and rescuers are still working to recover the victims, dead or alive.

Efforts are underway to clean the road leading to the badly avalanche-hit Parian district where over two dozen people have reportedly been killed or trapped in the snowstorm.

Revealing his ordeal, the dejected boy says that he has no shelter to live in.

"We have no home anymore and it is certain that the government can't provide accommodation or land for us to construct a house to live in," Samihullah says, murmuring that the only assistance the government contributes is a few biscuits, which is no remedy for homelessness.

The upset teen also says his elder brother who is serving as a national army soldier in southern Helmand province can't come home.

"The deadly avalanche washed away the home of my cousin along with five of his family members last week," another grieving person Habibullah, 30, tells Xinhua in Abdullahkhil village.

"We did our best and cleaned the area of snow from a hilltop to rescue my cousin but unfortunately we found him along with four of his dearest ones dead," the devastated man says. Endi