The vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan, where they had been living
A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people on board including 10 children, a provincial official told AFP.
Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation.
The vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan, where they had been living, according to Abdul Malik Niazai, spokesperson for the governor of Laghman province.
“Eighteen people (have died), including 10 children, five women and three men. In addition, 29 people have been injured,” the spokesperson said.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X “we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured”, adding that he was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy which took place at the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha.
The accident happened on the road between Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul.
Authorities in Pakistan have taken a tougher stance on Afghan migrants and refugees in their country—causing an outflow that often includes families travelling with their belongings in trucks.
Since the start of the year, 447,400 Afghans have returned from Pakistan, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.
A collision in August between a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan killed 78 people, including 19 children.
