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| Afghanistan |
| Afghanistan: Bomb blasts kill civilians in south |
| 2009-08-14 |
| [ADN Kronos] At least 14 people have been killed in three bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The troubled region has seen a surge in violence ahead of next Thursday's presidential and provincial council elections. A suicide car bomber on Thursday rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint near Zaranj, capital of the southwestern province of Nimroz, killing himself and injuring a police officer, Afghanistan's Pajhwok news agency reported. It was the fourth suicide attack in Nimroz this year. In the deadliest of three blasts, a roadside bomb struck a minivan in the Taliban heartland of Helmand province on Wednesday, killing 11 civilians, including women and children. The sole survivor was a six-year-old girl, who was injured in the attack, according to government officials. A provincial government spokesman blamed the Taliban for the attack, which took place in the Spin Jumaat area of Helmand's Greshk district. Another roadside blast in neighbouring Kandahar province on Wednesday, killed three children aged six to 11 as they were playing in an area just outside Kandahar city, police said. The bomb went off in front of an orphanage, according to police. Meanwhile, a US soldier was killed on Wednesday when the vehicle he was travelling in was hit by a roadside bomb, NATO said in a statement. The Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for any of the attacks. Thousands of international troops are operating in several districts of Afghanistan in a bid to ensure security in next week's elections. Civilians are bearing the brunt of Taliban-led insurgency, and the number killed rose by almost one-quarter from January to June, compared with the same period last year, according to the United Nations. Nearly 60 percent of the deaths were caused by insurgent attacks. |
| Posted by:Fred |