Heavy rains leave 13 dead in Tajikistan

At least 13 people were killed after heavy rains lashed central Tajikistan, the latest natural disaster to hit the mountainous Central Asia country, the presidency said Monday.

The deaths occurred in areas just south and east of the capital Dushanbe, where storms on Sunday had caused "mudslides, falling rocks and landslides" in around a dozen districts, a spokeswoman for the country's emergencies ministry told AFP.

"Because of the heavy rains, a natural catastrophe happened yesterday and caused the deaths of 13 people, including 11 in Vahdat and two in Rudaki district," the office of President Emomali Rahmon said in a brief statement.

Risks of further landslides "remain high", the ministry spokeswoman said.

Tajikistan, the poorest of ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia, is vulnerable to natural catastrophes.

In February, dozens of avalanches as well as landslides and rockfalls struck Upper Badakhshan, an autonomous region in the south bordering Afghanistan, China and Kyrgyzstan that is surrounded by the Pamir Mountains.