Eight children, four women among 21 killed in Afghan blasts

A series of bombs and explosions killed 21 people in Afghanistan's southern and eastern flashpoints on Saturday, among them at least eight children and four women, government officials said. In the deadliest attack, a vehicle hit a mine in Arghandab district of the southern province of Kandahar.
"Today at 10:00 am, 15 civilians were killed, including eight children, four women and three men," the ministry said. One woman was also wounded in the explosion, it added. The interior ministry said six civilians, including a woman and two children, were wounded by mortar bombs fired at a district police headquarters in the eastern province of Kunar.
In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber on Saturday killed three people including the commander of a provincial Afghan police rapid reaction force and wounded 12 others, officials said. The attacker blew himself up in front of the police unit's base, Khost deputy police chief Mohammad Yahqoob Mandozai told AFP.
"The commander of the unit, Colonel Zaher ... has been killed", Mandozai said. "The suicide attacker who was waiting outside the base detonated himself as the vehicle carrying the police commander exited the base." The interior ministry said two policemen including Zaher and a civilian were killed in the attack. Two policemen were killed and nine wounded when two successive blasts hit the eastern province of Laghman.