12 Afghan civilians killed in roadside bombing

GHAZNI -- Twelve civilians were killed while two others wounded Saturday when a minibus set off a roadside bomb in eastern Ghazni province, an official said.

"Twelve passengers, including seven women, lost their lives in a roadside bomb explosion in Giro District. Two civilians of the bus were wounded in the blast which occurred at around 9:45 a.m. local time," the district governor Abdullah Khairkhwa told Xinhua.

He blamed the Taliban insurgent group for planting the improvised explosive device (IED) on the main road in the province, 125 km south of national capital Kabul.

The Taliban has largely been using home-made IEDs to launch suicide attacks and roadside bombings against security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

More than 2,900 civilians were killed and nearly 5,700 wounded in conflicts and Taliban-led attacks in the war-torn country last year, according to official figures.