Two devastating bus accidents on a major highway in central Afghanistan have left 52 people dead and 65 injured, according to spokespeople from the Taliban government.

The accidents occurred late Wednesday on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, passing through Ghazni province, a critical route connecting the capital, Kabul, to southern Kandahar city. In one incident, a bus collided with a fuel tanker near Shahbaz village in central Ghazni, while in the other, another bus crashed into a truck in the eastern Andar district.

Hamidullah Nisar, Ghazni’s provincial head of information and culture, confirmed the incidents on social media, though he did not specify the exact number of casualties in each collision. Chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy, stating, "We learned with great regret that two fatal traffic accidents occurred on the Kabul-Kandahar Highway, in which 52 of our compatriots were killed and 65 others were injured."

Rescue teams arrived promptly at the scene and transported the wounded to local hospitals, with some in critical condition.

Traffic accidents have become tragically common in Afghanistan, largely due to poor road conditions resulting from decades of conflict, hazardous driving practices on highways, and a lack of traffic regulation enforcement.

In March of this year, a similar collision between a bus and a fuel tanker in southern Helmand province killed over 20 people and left 38 others injured. In December 2022, another deadly incident occurred in the Salang Pass, a high-altitude area, when a fuel tanker overturned and caught fire, claiming 31 lives and severely injuring many others.