Truck Carrying Returning Migrants Overturns In Eastern Afghanistan, 22 Killed

A fatal road accident in eastern Afghanistan has claimed at least 22 lives and injured around 36 others after a truck carrying returning migrants overturned on the Kabul–Jalalabad highway in Laghman province, officials confirmed on Saturday.

The vehicle was transporting Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan when it crashed on a key highway connecting Kabul with Nangarhar province. According to provincial spokesperson Abdul Malik Niazai , the truck fell into a roadside ditch after the driver fell asleep , causing it to overturn and resulting in mass casualties.

Officials said among the dead were 10 children and five women , while the injured were taken to hospitals in Nangarhar for treatment. The provincial health director, Aminullah Sharif , confirmed the toll at 22 deaths and around 36 injuries , adding that rescue teams completed recovery operations after reaching the remote crash site.

Authorities noted that most passengers were part of the large wave of Afghans returning home from neighbouring Pakistan amid ongoing deportations and tightened migration policies that began in 2023. Similar expulsions from Iran have also contributed to the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans in recent years, many of whom had lived abroad for decades.

Survivors were transported to nearby medical facilities, while officials continue to investigate the circumstances of the crash. Early reports had listed lower casualty numbers, but figures were revised upward as rescue teams reached the overturned vehicle and confirmed additional fatalities.

In a separate incident in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, a car veered off a road and fell into a river on Friday night, leaving one driver injured and four passengers missing. Search and rescue operations are still underway, according to local authorities.

Road accidents remain frequent across Afghanistan due to poor infrastructure, mountainous terrain, and weak enforcement of traffic rules , particularly on long inter-provincial highways often used by overloaded passenger vehicles.