Deadly Tragedy in Badakhshan Leaves 18 Dead and Injured: Poor Roads and Gold Plunder.
A fatal traffic accident in Arghanj Khwah District of Badakhshan Province has killed at least 15 people and left three others seriously injured.
Local sources report that the victims include six children, five women, and four men—entire families whose journey abruptly turned into tragedy.
This grim toll once again highlights the dangerous insecurity of mountainous routes in the province.
Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Badakhshan, said the incident occurred around noon on Saturday in the Samdar area.
A passenger vehicle (a flancoach) traveling from Faizabad city to the center of Arghanj Khwah District veered off the road and plunged into a deep valley, shocking residents and travelers alike.
The police spokesperson added that the three injured victims were transferred to medical facilities and are reported to be in critical condition.
This tragedy once again underscores the poor condition of roads, lack of safety infrastructure, and extreme risks of travel in Badakhshan’s mountainous regions.
Despite being one of Afghanistan’s resource-rich provinces, endowed with extensive gold mines, Badakhshan still lacks standard roads.
Local residents are calling for urgent action to prevent the recurrence of such heartbreaking incidents.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Taliban’s systematic looting of Badakhshan’s gold mines has reached such extremes that even graves have not been spared, with soil excavated from cemeteries in search of gold.
This widespread plunder, carried out without providing any public services, reflects the depth of irresponsibility and cruelty under Taliban rule in this wealthy yet severely neglected province.
