Roadside bombs kill 12 in Afghanistan

Twelve Afghan civilians including women and children were killed in two separate roadside bomb explosions in the south and southwestern regions, officials said.

Twelve Afghan civilians including women and children were killed in two separate roadside bomb explosions in the south and southwestern regions, officials said on Wednesday.

Seven Afghan civilians were killed when a roadside bomb in Panjwayi district of the southern province of Kandahar struck their vehicle on Wednesday morning, Zalmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

The dead, including four women and two children, were members of the same family, Baran Khaksar, the district administrative chief, said.

In the other incident, five civilians were killed and eight wounded when a bomb blew up their passenger van in Gulistan district of the southwestern province of Farah Tuesday afternoon, Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, spokesman for police forces in the western region, said.

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Confirming the incident, Rohul Amin, the provincial governor of Farah, said three of the wounded people were in critical condition in the provincial hospital.

Officials in both Kandahar and Farah blamed Taliban insurgents for the attacks.

Taliban militants, who ruled Afghanistan for five years before their government was toppled in a US-led military invasion, rely heavily on use of roadside bombs as part of their campaign against Afghan troops and more than 100,000 international soldiers, but most often civilians become the victims of such attacks.