In Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang pass, an oil tanker overturned and caught fire, killing 19 people and wounding dozens, according to authorities on Sunday. The accident occurred late on Saturday in the Parwan province, which is north of Kabul, and trapped travellers on both sides of the mountain pass.

Afghanistan: At least 19 killed as oil tanker overturns in Salang tunnel, catches fire, traps travellers

The Taliban commander’s sneakers had soaked through from the melting snow, but that was the least of his problems. It was avalanche season in the Salang Pass, a rugged cut of switchback roads that gash through the Hindu Kush mountains in northern Afghanistan like some man-made insult to nature, and he was determined to keep the essential trade route open during his first season as its caretaker.

‘Fighting was easier’: Taliban take on a treacherous, avalanche-prone pass

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Afghanistan: At least 19 killed as oil tanker overturns in Salang tunnel, catches fire, traps travellers

‘Fighting was easier’: Taliban take on a treacherous, avalanche-prone pass