A tragic road accident in western Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 73 people, including 17 children, most of them Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran.
The accident happened on Tuesday night in Herat Province when a bus carrying the deportees collided with a truck and a motorcycle and then caught fire. According to Ahmadullah Mottaqi, the Taliban’s director of information and culture in Herat, everyone on the bus died, along with two people from the other vehicles.
Officials say the victims had boarded the bus in Islam Qala, a border town where many deportees enter Afghanistan from Iran. The bus was traveling to Kabul when the crash occurred.
Local police blamed the accident on excessive speed and driver negligence. Road accidents are common in Afghanistan because many roads are in poor condition and traffic laws are rarely enforced.
Iran has recently increased deportations of undocumented Afghan migrants, accusing them of security threats after its brief war with Israel in June. Critics say Iran is using Afghans as scapegoats for its security failures.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1.5 million Afghans have been forced out of Iran since January, including people who had lived there for generations. In June alone, over 250,000 Afghans were deported.
Experts warn that Afghanistan cannot handle the massive return of deportees, especially under Taliban rule. The country is already struggling with high unemployment, poverty, and an influx of Afghans returning from Pakistan, which has also started mass deportations.
Human rights groups have called for international support to help Afghanistan manage this crisis and prevent further tragedies.
