At least 94 people have been killed and thousands of families left homeless after days of flooding and landslides in northern Afghanistan, the United Nations has said.

According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) about 8,000 houses have been destroyed across five provinces.

The deaths occurred over five days. More flooding is expected.

The World Food Programme said that spring rains, which have caused heavy flooding in the Balkh, Badakhshan, Jawazjan, Takhar and Herat provinces, are continuing in some areas.

Sheilagh Henry, an Ocha field co-ordinator, said: "In Balkh province about 1,500 families need emergency assistance."

She said that more than 2,000 families were also affected by floods in Herat province; about 800 families were hit in Badghis province and hundreds more were affected in several other provinces.

Aid agencies are concerned that more rainfall and rapidly melting snow will worsen the situation.

The mud-built homes that house most Afghans in rural areas are vulnerable to natural disasters in a country regularly at risk from earthquakes, floods and landslides.