Faizabad (Afghanistan), Jan 6 (IANS): At least 20 people were killed and seven injured as a landslide hit Kohistan district in the northern Badakhshan province on Sunday, provincial head of Natural Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Sayed Abdullah Hamayon Dehqan said.

"The tragic incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. local time in Shipo area of Kohistan district when more than 50 people were busy in illegal digging of a gold mine there and almost all of them were buried alive and so far 20 dead bodies and seven injured persons have been discovered," Dehqan told Xinhua.

Rescue operation for discovering the remaining people was going on, the official said, adding the number of casualties might go up.

In the insurgency-plagued Afghanistan where the central government's control is poor especially in the rural areas and countryside, illegal armed men are often involved in illegal digging of natural treasures including gold, coal and lapis lazuli.