By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Heavy rains coupled with severe flashfloods and mudslides continued to wreak havoc in northern and northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, bringing the total number of recent rain-related deaths up to 86, local officials said.

According to figures issued by Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which coordinates between different rescue and relief organizations, over 100 people have been injured -- many of them critically -- due to mudslides and structural collapses caused by heavy rainfall since March 9.

Over the same period, around 250 homes across the country have been damaged or destroyed due to torrential rains, the NDMA said.  

Most of the fatalities have been reported from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) province and Azad Kashmir, the Pakistani-administered part of the Kashmir Valley. 

Meanwhile, at least two people were killed -- while eight others remain unaccounted for -- when an avalanche struck a remote village in the northwestern Chitral district on Sunday, officials said.

Pakistan’s official meteorological office, for its part, has forecast more rains in parts of KP province and Azad Kashmir.