KABUL (SW) – Officials at the General Directorate of Traffic Police of the Ministry of Interior Affairs report that since the beginning of the year, 291 traffic incidents have occurred nationwide, resulting in 141 fatalities and 504 injuries.
Abdulwadood Khairkhah, the Planning Director at the directorate, identifies the lack of traffic lights, road breakdowns, and driver recklessness as prominent factors contributing to traffic incidents in Afghanistan.
“Since the beginning of the year, 291 traffic incidents have occurred nationwide, resulting in 141 fatalities and 504 injuries,” he said.
Mansour, a resident of Parwan, who narrowly could escape a traffic incident on the Kabul-Parwan highway a few days ago; says that his friends were injured in that incident.
“I witnessed it myself a few days ago when a vehicle hit our car at a checkpoint, injuring several of my friends. The lack of driver licenses and the absence of traffic signals were the factors contributing to this incident,” he added.
Khaled, a resident of Baghlan who was injured in a recent traffic incident, urges the General Directorate of Traffic Police of the Ministry of Interior to control the speed of vehicles.
He says, “The sole reason was speeding and recklessness, and two of us were injured, with one person severely wounded. My plea to drivers is to drive cautiously, and I urge the traffic police to work on reducing vehicle speeds.”
Earlier, Abdul Matin Qane, the spokesperson for the de-facto government’s Ministry of Interior Affairs, stated that 1,978 traffic incidents were recorded nationwide in the second half of the past solar year, resulting in 949 fatalities.
However, the cabinet of the Islamic Emirate ministers has approved a plan aimed to prevent traffic accidents.
