Eight people were killed and one injured in a traffic accident early Monday in Gizab district of the southern province of Uruzgan, local sources reported.
The accident occurred around 3 a.m. when an SUV plunged off a wooden bridge into the Helmand River in the village of Kandugak.
According to residents, the vehicle was en route to Nili, the capital of neighboring Daikundi province. Details about the victims’ identities remain unknown, but all were reported to be men.
In a separate incident on Sunday afternoon, a Flancoch vehicle traveling from Siah Chub village in Daikundi’s Sangtakht and Bandar district veered off the road and overturned in Khadir district.
According to the Taliban’s police department in Daikundi, the vehicle was carrying only the driver, who was uninjured, though the vehicle was completely destroyed.
Traffic-related deaths have surged across Afghanistan, with nearly 200 fatalities and 300 injuries in the past three months alone, according to data compiled by Amu Television. Taliban traffic authorities attribute many of these accidents to driver negligence and excessive speeds, particularly among high-speed vehicles.
