AVALANCHES caused by a heavy winter snow have killed at least 124 people in north-eastern Afghanistan.

The avalanches buried homes across four northeast provinces, killing those beneath, said Mohammad Aslam Syas, the deputy director of the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority.

The province worst hit appeared to be Panjshir province, about 100km northeast of the capital, Kabul, where the avalanches destroyed or damaged around 100 homes.

Rescue teams had been dispatched to the affected areas and casualties were expected to rise, Syas said.

media_camera Snowed in ... vehicles stuck in snow between Bamian and Daykundi provinces in Central Afghanistan. Picture: Courtesy Bilal Harwary

The heavy snowstorms, which began early Tuesday, hampered rescue efforts.

Snowfall from the storm was nearly one-metre deep in places and fallen trees blocked roads in the Panjshir Valley.

Avalanches in the valley’s Dara district affected up to 600 families, according to people trying to reach the area to assist in rescue efforts.

media_camera Snowstorm ... an Afghan vegetable vendor pushes his cart during a snowstorm in Kabul, Afghanistan. Picture: AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini

“People there have told me that two of my relatives have been killed and eight others are still under the snow,” said an Afghan who goes by the single name Sharafudin.

“My son and I are trying to get through to see if we can help find their bodies. But it will take us at least three or four hours to get there because of the snow and the road is very narrow, so we have to walk, the car can’t get through.”

Large parts of Afghanistan have been covered in snow as a major storm interrupted an otherwise mild and dry winter.

media_camera Blizzard ... Afghan women and a child walk during a snowstorm in Kabul, Afghanistan. Picture: AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini

Afghanistan has suffered through some three decades of war since the Soviet invasion in 1979. But natural disasters such as landslides, floods and avalanches have taken a toll on a country with little infrastructure or development outside of its major cities.

In May, a massive landslide killed anywhere from 250 to 2700 people, authorities said at the time. Another landslide in 2012 killed 71 people.

media_camera Snowstorm ... vehicles are half-buried in snow after deadly avalanches in the Parwan province in 2010. Picture: Supplied

Originally published as The Afghanistan you never see