Afghanistan bus crash kills 76
"Seventy-six citizens of the country... lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured," Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement.
The dead were transferred to a military hospital, with more than a dozen children among those killed, army statements said.
Many of the bodies were "unidentifiable", said Mohammad Janan Moqadas, chief physician of Al-Farooq Army Corps Hospital.
Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist on Tuesday night saw the burnt shell of the bus on the road hours after the accident.
The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday.
At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the United Nations (UN) migration agency.
Many of those returning spent years outside the country and arrive without a place to go and carrying few belongings, facing steep challenges to resettle in a country facing endemic poverty and high unemployment.
The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years.
Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation.
In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52.
In March 2024, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province.
Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker took place in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang Pass, killing 31 people.
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Bangkok Post
2 days ago
- Bangkok Post
Afghanistan bus crash kills 76
KABUL — A traffic accident in Afghanistan's western Herat province killed 76 people, including 17 children, on Tuesday night when a bus carrying deported migrants to Kabul caught fire after colliding with a truck and motorcycle, a government official said. "Seventy-six citizens of the country... lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured," Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement. The dead were transferred to a military hospital, with more than a dozen children among those killed, army statements said. Many of the bodies were "unidentifiable", said Mohammad Janan Moqadas, chief physician of Al-Farooq Army Corps Hospital. Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist on Tuesday night saw the burnt shell of the bus on the road hours after the accident. The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the United Nations (UN) migration agency. Many of those returning spent years outside the country and arrive without a place to go and carrying few belongings, facing steep challenges to resettle in a country facing endemic poverty and high unemployment. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52. In March 2024, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province. Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker took place in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang Pass, killing 31 people.
Bangkok Post
07-08-2025
- Bangkok Post
UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action
LONDON — Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group. But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the United Kingdom (UK) government's list of proscribed organisations. "It's a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist," said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a "proud grandmother" of seven. She "was never politically interested," the former banking consultant from the southern town of Chichester told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "I just worked hard, raised my family, lived an ordinary life." In early July, the UK government banned Palestine Action under the UK's Terrorism Act, after activists broke into an air force base in England and damaged two aircraft. Since then, the campaign group Defend Our Juries has organised protests around the country to challenge the ban, described as "disproportionate" by the United Nations rights chief. More than 200 people have been arrested, according to Tim Crosland, a member of Defend Our Juries. They risk prison sentences of up to 14 years. British police on Thursday said they had charged two men and a woman over the July 5 protest, adding that they were sending files on the 26 other people arrested that day to prosecutors. A new demonstration in support of the group, which was founded in 2020, is planned on Saturday in London. Organisers expect at least 500 people to turn up, and police have warned all demonstrators could face arrest. People "don't know what the nature of this group is," interior minister Yvette Cooper has said, claiming that "this is not a non-violent group". But Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the ban and a hearing is set for November. Some 52 scholars, including well-known authors Tariq Ali and Naomi Klein, backed the bid in an open letter published in Thursday's Guardian, calling the ban an attack on "fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly and protest." 'Not terrorists' Mansfield has long supported the Palestinian people, but the start of the current war, sparked by Hamas's attacks on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, galvanised her into action. "When it started happening again ... it was the most horrible feeling, that children's homes were being blown up, that their schools were being destroyed," she said. Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's subsequent campaign to eradicate the Palestinian militant group in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the United Nations. For Mansfield, the Palestine Action ban was the final straw, fuelling her feelings that the government was silencing her political views. The night before attending the July demonstration, Mansfield said she was "terrified". But she did not change her mind. Images on British media showed her being moved by several police officers after she refused to get up from the pavement. An 83-year-old woman was by her side. Mansfield spent 12 hours in custody, and is now banned from parts of London, meaning she cannot visit some museums with her grandchildren as she would like to do. "It was just ordinary people," said Mansfield. "We came from all backgrounds ... we're not terrorists." 'Civil liberties' Alice Clark, a 49-year-old doctor, also does not regret attending the protest where she was arrested in London on July 19. "Nobody wants to be arrested. I just feel that there's a responsibility," said Clark, who also accused the government of undermining "our civil liberties". Cooper said the ban on Palestine Action was "based on detailed security assessments and security advice". The ban says the group's "methods have become more aggressive" by encouraging members to carry out attacks which have already caused millions of pounds in damage. But Clark, a former volunteer for medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said she felt "growing disgust and horror" at the images of starving children in Gaza. The 12 hours in custody after her arrest were a shock. If convicted, she risks losing her licence to practice medicine. "There were points where I was close to tears. But I think just remembering why I was doing it kind of helped me keep calm," said Clark. History student Zahra Ali, 18, was also arrested on July 19, before being released under supervision. None of the three women has been charged. She is also appalled by the scenes from Gaza. AFP. Imagining herself in prison at 18 is "a big thing," but "if people who are in their 80s can do it, then I can do it," Ali said.
Bangkok Post
26-07-2025
- Bangkok Post
Conflict spreads to six Thai provinces
Thailand and Cambodia pounded each other with heavy artillery fire for a third day on Saturday, as a border conflict that has killed at least 33 people and displaced more than 150,000 from their homes spread across the contested frontier. Clashes broke out for the first time in the coastal region of Trat where the countries' borders meet on the Gulf of Thailand, around 250 kilometres southwest of the main frontlines that echoed with blasts on Saturday afternoon. AFP journalists in the Cambodian town of Samraong, near the border that has seen the bulk of the fighting, heard the thump of artillery early Saturday afternoon. A Thai villager reached by phone as he sheltered in a bunker in Si Sa Ket province, just 10 kilometres from the frontier, also reported hearing artillery. 'I just want this to end as soon as possible,' Sutian Phiewchan told AFP. Cambodia has accused Thai forces of expanding the offensive deep into its territory against non-military targets including schools, pagodas and residential areas. Thai forces fired heavy artillery shells into several Cambodian areas outside the conflict zone, Khmer Times reported, citing its defence ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata. Thailand has denied targeting non-military sites. (Story continues below) New air strike The Royal Thai Air Force said it sent two F-16s and two Gripen fighter jets to attack Cambodian military targets in the Phu Makua area of Si Sa Ket on Saturday afternoon to intercept Cambodian ballistic weapons. The site had been retaken by Thai troops earlier in the day. Another target was the area of Prasat Ta Muean Thom in Surin, where Cambodian soldiers had set up artillery and personnel to fire into Thailand. The operation successfully destroyed targets at both locations and the aircraft returned to base safely, the air force said. On Saturday, the Thai army also reported clashes in Sa Kaeo, bringing the number of border provinces involved to six out of seven. Both sides say they are open to a truce in the combat now being fought with jets, tanks and ground troops, but have accused the other of undermining efforts to bring about a ceasefire. The Thai army asked people in its border areas to remain vigilant amid concerns that Cambodia may launch Chinese-made missiles capable of reaching targets in a 130km range, according to a post on Facebook. Siwat Rattana-Ananta, the Thai army attache in Beijing, met with Chinese officials on Friday and was assured that the country hasn't supplied Cambodia any fresh weapons since the start of the clash. All the weapons used by Phnom Penh are from prior deals, he said. Cambodia has relied on China in recent years for modernising its defence sector which includes financial and infrastructure support for the renovation of the Ream Naval Base, as well as extensive military cooperation through joint drills and equipment. In contrast, Thailand — a long-time US treaty ally — boasts squadrons of F-16 and Swedish-made Gripen combat jets and modern tanks. (Story continues below) Tensions over temples Tensions initially flared over long-contested ancient temple sites before fighting spread along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by jungle and agricultural land where local residents farm mostly rubber and rice. Cambodia's defence ministry said on Saturday that 13 people had been confirmed killed in the fighting since Thursday, including eight civilians and five soldiers, with 71 people wounded. Thai authorities said 13 civilians and seven soldiers had been killed on their side, with 33 injured. The death toll across both nations is now higher than it was in the last major round of fighting between 2008 and 2011. The conflict has also forced more than 138,000 people to be evacuated from Thailand's border regions, and more than 35,000 driven from their homes in Cambodia. After an urgent UN Security Council meeting in New York on Friday, Cambodia's UN ambassador Chhea Keo said his country wanted a ceasefire. 'Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire — unconditionally — and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,' he told reporters. Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said Saturday that for any ceasefire or talks to proceed, Cambodia needed to show 'genuine sincerity in ending the conflict'. Both sides have blamed the other for firing first. (Story continues below) Trading accusations Additionally, Cambodia has accused Thai forces of using cluster munitions, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station and 7-Eleven in Si Sa Ket struck by at least one rocket, killing eight civilians. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited shelters in Ubon Ratchathani on Saturday to meet evacuees. 'The military needs to complete its operations before any dialogue can take place,' Thaksin told reporters.
