KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least five people were killed in a traffic accident on the Kandahar–Herat highway in southern Afghanistan on Friday morning, local sources told KabulNow.
The crash occurred in the Howz-e Madad area, located between Maiwand and Zhari districts of Kandahar province, when a Toyota Fielder vehicle collided head-on with a trailer truck. According to sources, all five passengers in the Toyota were killed instantly.
The sources said the accident was caused by driver negligence, one of the leading factors behind frequent traffic incidents on Afghanistan’s major highways. Taliban officials in Kandahar have not yet commented on the incident.
Traffic accidents remain a persistent public safety concern across Afghanistan. Poorly maintained roads, the absence of traffic signs, and reckless driving contribute to hundreds of fatalities and injuries each year. The Kandahar–Herat route, one of the country’s busiest highways, is particularly prone to deadly crashes involving overloaded trucks and passenger vehicles.
In August, at least 25 people were killed and nearly 30 others injured in a similar accident along the same highway after a passenger bus veered off the road and overturned.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the number of road accidents has risen sharply. Data reviewed by Etilaatroz and KabulNow indicate that traffic incidents have increased fivefold in recent years. Official records show 1,187 accidents were registered between March 2021 and March 2022, rising to 2,662 the following year, and at least 5,520 between March 2023 and March 2024 — an almost 80% rise over two years.
