QALAT (PAN): Seven people were killed and five others wounded when two passenger cars collided head-on in southern Zabul province, officials said on Thursday.

The overnight mishap occurred on the Kabul-Kandahar highway in the Jaldak area of Shahr-i-Safa district, Deputy Governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Passengers in both cars suffered casualties, he said, adding the injured were taken to a hospital in Qalat, the provincial capital.

A doctor on duty, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the dead included women and children. Two of the injured were referred to a hospital in neighbouring Kandahar province.

Traffic officials blame reckless driving for accidents on the highway.

ma/mud