6 Afghan civilians killed in roadside bombing in southern province

Districts of Helmand Province. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Up to six Afghan civilians were killed and one injured Friday morning when a car ran over a roadside bomb in the country's southern province of Helmand, a provincial police source said.

"A civilian's car was running along a road in Dahzor area of Musa Qala district at around 9 a.m. local time today but the ill- fated vehicle touched off a bomb and the blast killed six passengers and injured one other," a senior police official Mohammad Ismail Hotak told Xinhua.

He blamed Taliban insurgents for the attack. Taliban militants have been largely relying on roadside bombing and suicide attacks in fighting Afghan security force and NATO-led troops based in Afghanistan, often causing civilian casualties.

The insurgent group, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have yet to make comments.

Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012, in conflict-related violent incidents, a total of 1,145 civilians were killed and 1,954 injured, a 15 percent decrease in overall civilian casualties compared with the same period in 2011, a mid-year report released by the United Nations office in capital city of Kabul on Wednesday said.

from XINHUA
2012-08-10 14:55:03

Posted in: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, Helmand Province, Kabul, Musa Qala District, NATO