KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 25 people were killed and 27 others injured when a passenger bus overturned on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on Wednesday morning, Taliban officials confirmed.
The crash happened in the Arghandi area, near Kabul, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior. He said the bus, which was traveling from Herat to Kabul, veered off the road and overturned.
Qani blamed the driver’s negligence for the accident. Local sources said the death toll could rise as several of the injured remain in critical condition.
Deadly road accidents are a persistent problem in Afghanistan, where poor infrastructure, reckless driving, and a lack of traffic enforcement contribute to frequent crashes.
Just a week ago, nearly 80 people — mostly women and children — died in western Herat province when a bus carrying Afghan migrants deported from Iran collided with other vehicles. Taliban officials said the victims belonged to 16 families, and cited speeding as the cause.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, road accidents have surged sharply. Data reviewed by Etilaatroz/KabulNow last year showed a fivefold increase in traffic incidents. Official figures recorded 1,187 accidents between March 2021 and March 2022, rising to 2,662 the following year, and at least 5,520 between March 2023 and March 2024 — a nearly 80% rise over two years.
