<p>At least 35 people were killed early today when a passenger bus struck a fuel tanker in a head-on collision in the southern province of Zabul, officials said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The passenger bus was on its way from Kandahar to Kabul when it collided with a fuel tanker. In the accident, 35 people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded," Zabul's Governor Bismillah Afghanmal told AFP.<br /><br />The collision sparked an inferno and many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition, he said.<br /><br />Some of the wounded were rushed to hospitals in provincial capital Qalat as well as neighbouring Kandahar province, said Ghulam Jilani Farahi, deputy Zabul police chief.<br /><br />The Kabul-Kandahar highway passes through militancy-prone areas and many bus drivers are known to drive recklessly at top speeds so as not to get caught in insurgent activity.<br /><br />Afghanistan has some of the world's most dangerous roads, often in dilapidated condition and traffic rules are seldom enforced.<br /><br />Many in the country rely on old and rickety passenger vehicles, meaning that high casualty road traffic accidents are common.<br /><br />In May, at least 73 people were killed when two passenger buses and an oil tanker burst into flames in a head-on collision in eastern Ghazni province, in one of the worst road accidents in the war-battered nation.<br /><br />And in April 2013 a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 45 people.<br /><br />The World Bank last November signed off a USD 250 million grant to upgrade roads crossing Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, crucial trade links that are often closed in winter by snow.</p>
<p>At least 35 people were killed early today when a passenger bus struck a fuel tanker in a head-on collision in the southern province of Zabul, officials said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The passenger bus was on its way from Kandahar to Kabul when it collided with a fuel tanker. In the accident, 35 people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded," Zabul's Governor Bismillah Afghanmal told AFP.<br /><br />The collision sparked an inferno and many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition, he said.<br /><br />Some of the wounded were rushed to hospitals in provincial capital Qalat as well as neighbouring Kandahar province, said Ghulam Jilani Farahi, deputy Zabul police chief.<br /><br />The Kabul-Kandahar highway passes through militancy-prone areas and many bus drivers are known to drive recklessly at top speeds so as not to get caught in insurgent activity.<br /><br />Afghanistan has some of the world's most dangerous roads, often in dilapidated condition and traffic rules are seldom enforced.<br /><br />Many in the country rely on old and rickety passenger vehicles, meaning that high casualty road traffic accidents are common.<br /><br />In May, at least 73 people were killed when two passenger buses and an oil tanker burst into flames in a head-on collision in eastern Ghazni province, in one of the worst road accidents in the war-battered nation.<br /><br />And in April 2013 a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 45 people.<br /><br />The World Bank last November signed off a USD 250 million grant to upgrade roads crossing Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, crucial trade links that are often closed in winter by snow.</p>