A minibus full of Afghan civilians struck a roadside bomb while driving down a road in southern Afghanistan on Monday, setting off an explosion that killed five passengers. One woman and four children died and another six passengers were wounded, said Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the Uruzgan provincial police. Ayal said the vehicle had just left the main market area in Chor district when it hit the buried explosive. He said two brothers and their families were travelling in the minibus.
Civilians are regularly victims of bombs laid by insurgents to target Afghan or international forces. The UN said in a recent report that 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in the crossfire between Taliban insurgents and Afghan, US and Nato forces during the first half of this year up 15 percent from the same period a year earlier. The UN report attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to insurgents and others fighting against the Afghan government. International troops and other pro-government forces were to blame for 14 percent of the deaths; 6 percent were not attributed to any side.
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