At least 73 people, including 17 children, were killed in a devastating road accident in western Afghanistan’s Herat province on Tuesday night. The crash occurred when a Kabul-bound bus collided with a truck and a motorcycle, according to the BBC.
Ahmadullah Mottaki, the Taliban-appointed head of Herat’s Department of Information and Culture, said the bus was carrying Afghans deported from Iran. All passengers on the bus, along with at least two others from the other vehicles, were killed.
Local police told journalists that excessive speed and driver negligence caused the accident.
Road accidents remain a frequent tragedy in Afghanistan, where decades of conflict have left highways in disrepair and traffic laws are rarely enforced.
The victims’ journey reflects a broader humanitarian crisis. Since the 1970s, millions of Afghans have sought refuge in Iran and Pakistan, with migration waves increasing after the 1979 Soviet invasion and the Taliban’s 2021 return to power. Rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Iran has intensified deportations and discrimination against Afghans.
Tehran recently escalated its crackdown on undocumented Afghans. While authorities initially ordered them to leave voluntarily by July, Iran later began mass expulsions, citing security concerns following its brief conflict with Israel in June.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1.5 million Afghans have been forced out of Iran since January, many of whom had lived there for generations. Experts warn that Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, lacks the capacity to absorb such a large influx, especially as the country is already struggling with returnees from Pakistan.
