Eighteen people killed in Afghanistan truck crash, including 10 children | Afghanistan

A provincial official told Agence France-Presse that 18 people, including 10 children, died when a truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday.

Fatal traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to deteriorating roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation.

According to Abdul Malik Niazay, spokesman for the governor of Laghman province, the vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan, where they lived.

The spokesman said, “18 people, including 10 children, 5 women and 3 men, died. Additionally, 29 people were injured.”

The accident occurred on the road between Jalalabad and the capital Kabul in eastern Afghanistan.

Authorities in Pakistan have hardened their stance against Afghan immigrants and refugees in their country, resulting in an exodus that often includes families traveling in trucks with their belongings.

According to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, 447,400 Afghans have returned from Pakistan since the beginning of the year.

Last August, 78 people, including 19 children, died in a collision between a bus carrying Afghan immigrants returning from Iran and two vehicles in western Afghanistan.