Roadside bomb kills 9 civilians in Kandahar

KANDAHAR: A roadside bomb tore through a small bus in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing nine civilians including women and children, officials said.

The bombing, which occurred in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, came a day after a blast in a mosque in Kabul´s fortified Green Zone killed two people including a well-known Imam.

Nine people died and five others were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their bus in Arghistan district of Kandahar province, provincial police spokesman Jamal Nasir Barekzai said. Several victims were women and children, said Baheer Ahmad Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, who also confirmed the toll.

No one claimed the Kandahar attack, but Barekzai blamed the Taliban.

On Wednesday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said homemade bombs used by the Taliban to target Afghan security forces have killed at least 10 civilians in the past two days.

The UN urged the militants to “stop using these illegal improvised mines”.