Deeyar TV investigations reveal that at least 142 people were killed or injured in road accidents across Afghanistan between August 18 and August 24.
These incidents occurred in the provinces of Herat, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Balkh, Ghazni, Bamiyan, and Samangan, resulting in 88 fatalities and 54 injuries.
The deadliest accident took place on the evening of August 18, when a 580-type passenger bus transporting deported refugees from Iran collided with a motorcycle and a Mazda truck en route to Kabul. The crash killed 79 people, including 19 children, and left one person injured.
The week began with another tragedy in Balkh province. Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Isa Wasiq reported three deaths and four injuries in a crash on the Hairatan–Mazar-e-Sharif road.
Elsewhere, two women died and three others were injured in an accident in Shahr-e Bozorg district of Badakhshan.
On August 19, local Taliban officials in Bamiyan reported two separate traffic incidents that injured three people.
A day later, on August 20, a vehicle plunged into a river in Badakhshan, killing two passengers.
On August 21, Taliban authorities in Baghlan reported that a 580-type bus collided with a Datsun pickup in Doshi district, injuring 24 people.
August 22 was the only day during the week with no recorded traffic accidents.
However, August 23 saw several incidents. A collision between two passenger vehicles in Ghazni city’s fourth district left two people dead and nine injured. That same day in Khulm district of Samangan, a vehicle crash killed two and injured four. In another accident in Hazrat Sultan district, a Corolla vehicle caught fire, injuring six passengers.
Road accidents in Afghanistan are frequent and often deadly due to poorly constructed roads, war-damaged infrastructure, lack of proper traffic systems, and general neglect of safety standards.
In a speech in Kandahar, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada called for public awareness campaigns to reduce reckless driving and asked religious scholars to take on this responsibility.
