Afghan blast kills 10 students, 2 US-led troops

Afghan blast kills 10 students, 2 US-led troops
Mon Jun 3, 2013 18:19:31

One of the bloodiest days in the Afghan conflict saw a total of 10 children and at least as many adults killed Monday in bombing attacks blamed on the Taliban insurgency.

The children and a local police officer died when a suicide bomber riding a motorbike exploded his vest in front of a school in Samkani district, in eastern Afghanistan's province of Paktiya, police chief Zamlai Oriyakhel said.

 

The bomber was believed to have targeted a US-led military convoy. The NATO-led forces confirmed that two of its troops had also been killed in the attack. The attack had also left 20 civilians and one local police officer injured.

 

In a separate incident in Laghman province, seven civilians – five of them women - were killed while on their way to collect firewood when a roadside bomb hit a truck, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said.


The ministry blamed the Taliban, who frequently deploy roadside bombs to target Afghan and NATO-led troops.


The Taliban were not immediately available for comment.


In the southern province of Kandahar, an Afghan man working for a de-mining organization was also killed in a NATO airstrike.

 

The man, identified as Mohammad Khan, had been working in the radio operations department of the local MCPA de-mining organization.

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