KABUL, Afghanistan — A truck carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan overturned on a highway in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least 18 people, most of them women and children, officials said.
The crash occurred in Qarghayi district of Laghman province, on the main highway linking Kabul with Nangarhar province. Taliban government officials initially said 18 people were killed and 35 injured, while later reports from local authorities and the Associated Press put the toll at 22 dead and about 36 injured.
Abdul Malik Niazai, spokesperson for the Laghman governor, said the victims were Afghan refugees who had recently returned from neighbouring Pakistan. Many were travelling with their belongings in an overloaded cargo truck when the vehicle overturned. The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby Nangarhar province for treatment.
Officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation. Some reports said the driver may have fallen asleep before the truck veered off the road and fell into a ditch. Road accidents are common in Afghanistan, where poor highways, overloaded vehicles, weak enforcement and driver fatigue frequently contribute to deadly crashes.
The tragedy comes as large numbers of Afghans are returning from Pakistan following Islamabad’s crackdown on undocumented migrants. Pakistan began a major deportation campaign in 2023, forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to leave, including families who had lived in Pakistan for decades or were born there.
Many returnees travel long distances in unsafe conditions, often packed into trucks with household items, children and elderly relatives. Humanitarian groups have warned that families arriving back in Afghanistan face severe hardship, including limited shelter, food insecurity, unemployment and weak access to healthcare.
Afghanistan is already struggling with deep poverty, reduced international aid and the return of migrants from both Pakistan and Iran. The latest crash has highlighted the risks facing displaced families as they attempt to rebuild their lives in a country still dealing with economic crisis and fragile infrastructure.
Authorities said emergency teams responded to the scene and that assistance would be provided to affected families. The National Disaster Management Authority also announced financial support for relatives of the victims and those injured in the crash.
For families who had already endured displacement and forced return, the journey home ended in another tragedy — one that underscores both Afghanistan’s road-safety crisis and the human cost of mass migration pressures in the region.
