The Taliban’s head of Information and Culture in Helmand says four members of a family including two children, a woman, and a man have been found and rescued with the help of the Taliban’s air force after becoming stranded in the desert between the districts of Disho and Garmser. According to him, the driver of the vehicle carrying the family remains missing.
Hafiz Rashidi, the Taliban’s head of Information and Culture in Helmand, said the individuals had gone missing the previous day in the Bahramcha desert area, along the route between Disho and Garmser districts. He added that a search operation was launched after authorities were informed of the incident.
Rashidi said the driver of the vehicle had become separated from the four family members before they were found, and that efforts to locate him were still underway. He provided no further details about the driver’s condition or his possible whereabouts.
Taliban officials have not released further information about the exact circumstances that led to the family becoming lost or how long they remained stranded in the desert. It is also unclear how many people were initially reported missing in the area and whether anyone other than the driver remains unaccounted for.
The plains and desert areas of southern and western Afghanistan, particularly parts of Helmand and Nimroz, are vast and sparsely populated. The lack of clearly marked routes, extreme heat, and limited access to some areas make travel and movement through these regions particularly hazardous.
In recent years, similar cases involving travelers becoming lost or dying in these areas have been reported. In mid-Asad this year, the bodies of 19 Afghan citizens who had gone missing while traveling to Iran through the deserts of Nimroz were found in the Gard Laloi area of Chahar Burjak district.
Sources said at the time that the individuals had died from extreme heat and thirst. Similar incidents have once again highlighted the dangers posed by the harsh geographical and climatic conditions in Afghanistan’s southwestern desert regions.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
