WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-13 15:19

Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan
A US soldier looks towards the mountains as he responds to an attack during a mission near Honaker Miracle Camp at the Pesh valley of Kunar Province August 12, 2009. [Agencies]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: Two separate roadside blasts in southern Afghanistan killed 14 civilians, including three children, underscoring the high price paid by ordinary people in the conflict with the Taliban, officials said Thursday.

Officials blamed the blasts on Taliban militants, who have made roadside bombings their primary weapons.

Related readings:
 Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan Militants kill police chief in N Afghanistan
 Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan Women and children's life in Kabul, Afghanistan
Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan Roadside bomb kills 21 in S Afghanistan
 Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan NATO chief: More UN, EU help needed in Afghanistan
Bombs kill 14 civilians in S Afghanistan Roadside bomb kills 10 in west Afghanistan
According to figures from the US-based Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the number of incidents from IEDs soared to 828 last month, the highest level of the war and more than twice as many as in July 2008. The majority of the victims in such attacks have been civilians.

A blast on a road in the Gereshk district of Helmand province ripped through a vehicle carrying a family on Wednesday, killing 11 people, including two women and nine men, said Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor.

A 6-year-old girl survived the bombing, Ahmadi said.

"The Taliban are planting these bombs on the main roads, which are killing our civilians," Ahmadi said.

In the neighboring Kandahar province, three children were killed after they started playing with another bomb, which they had found on side of the road west of the provincial capital, police official Mohammad Shah Khan said.

The victims were between 8 and 12-years-old, he said.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, where thousands of additional US troops were deployed this year to try and reverse the militant's gains and create conditions for next week's presidential elections.

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 Next Page