KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least five people were killed and two others injured in separate traffic accidents in Herat, Nangarhar, and Nuristan provinces over the past two days, officials and local sources said, as road accidents continue to rise across Afghanistan.
In Herat province, three people died and one was injured when a Fortuner car collided with a rickshaw on Saturday, local sources reported. The three rickshaw passengers were killed on the spot, while another passenger was hospitalized with injuries. Sources attributed the crash to driver carelessness.
In Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, a young man identified as Zia-ur-Rehman was killed in a traffic accident, according to local sources. Zia-ur-Rehman had recently received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a private university. The sources did not provide further details about the circumstances of the crash.
In Parun, the provincial capital of Nuristan, one person died and another was injured after a motorcycle fell from a bridge, the Taliban Department of Information and Culture said. The department said the accident occurred due to the motorcycle driver’s carelessness, and the injured person was transferred to a local hospital for treatment.
Traffic accidents in Afghanistan claim hundreds of lives each year and leave many more injured. Officials frequently cite reckless driving, poor road conditions, and a lack of traffic signs as key contributing factors.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the frequency of road accidents has increased sharply. Data reviewed by Etilaatroz and KabulNow show that registered traffic incidents rose from 1,187 between March 2021 and March 2022, to 2,662 the following year, and at least 5,520 between March 2023 and March 2024, representing an almost 80% increase over two years.
