Truck carrying Afghan refugees from Pakistan overturns, killing 18, officials say

KABUL, Afghanistan — A truck carrying Afghan refugees returning from neighboring Pakistan overturned on a highway in eastern Afghanistan today, killing at least 18 people and injuring 35 others, most of them women and children, officials say.

The accident occurred in Laghman province on the main highway linking Kabul, the Afghan capital, with Nangarhar province, says Abdul Malik Niazai, the spokesperson for the provincial governor.

He says among the dead were 10 children and five women and the injured were taken to hospitals in Nangarhar for medical treatment.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesperson, expresses his sorrow over the incident and offers condolences to the victims’ families.

Traffic accidents are common across Afghanistan, where roads are poorly maintained and drivers routinely ignore traffic regulations.

The passengers were among thousands of Afghans who recently returned from Pakistan, which launched a crackdown on undocumented migrants in 2023 and has since deported or pressured many to leave. Iran also intensified expulsions of Afghan migrants around the same time.

Since then, millions of Afghans have returned home from the two countries, including many who were born in Pakistan and had spent decades living and working there.