The death toll from avalanches and freezing weather conditions across Afghanistan has risen to 191, officials said today, as rescue operations were underway in the worst-affected areas.<br/>Twenty-two provinces in Afghanistan have been blanketed bydays of heavy snowfall, triggering avalanches, destroying buildings and leaving many trapped in their snowbound homes. <br/><br/>Mohammad Aslam Sayyas, deputy minister for disaster management, told that the worst-hit province is north eastern Nuristan where at least 68 people have been killed. He added that search and rescue efforts had been stepped up this week amid improving weather conditions, after the authorities initially struggled to reach remote mountainous areas. <br/><br/>Sayyas said 300 people have been injured and more than 500 others were rescued in different parts of the country. Deadly avalanches are common in Afghanistan's mountainous areas in winter, and rescue efforts are frequently hampered by lack of equipment. Last month heavy snowfall and freezing weather killed 27 children, all under the age of five, in northern Jowzjan province.<br/>