Afghanistan truck overturns, 20 dead including 12 children

A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 20 people on board including 12 children, a provincial official told AFP, updating earlier figures.

Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation.

The vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan, where they had been living, according to Abdul Malik Niazai, spokesperson for the governor of Laghman province.

"Twenty people (have died) - five women, three men and 12 children," the spokesperson said, revising an earlier toll of 18 dead. The accident left 33 people injured.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X "we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured", adding that he was "deeply saddened" by the tragedy which took place at the end of the holiday of Eid Al Adha.

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

Authorities in Pakistan have taken a tougher stance on Afghan migrants and refugees in their country - causing an outflow that often includes families travelling with their belongings in trucks.

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

A collision in August between a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan killed 78 people, including 19 children.