A suicide car bomb exploded near a bank in Afghanistan Saturday as police and soldiers queued for their wages, killing four including three children in the volatile south.
The blast happened in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, where Afghan forces took control of security from British troops last month as international forces started withdrawals across the country.
It came a few days before the start of Eid, the Islamic festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Along with the dead, 21 people were wounded — ten Afghan soldiers, five policemen and six civilians, a statement from the Helmand governor’s office said.
“The martyred were two small boys, a small girl and a middle-aged man,” it added. “The target of the attack was police and army soldiers who gathered in front of Kabul Bank to take their monthly salaries.” No-one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, although the Taliban have carried out similar strikes in the past targeting government employees collecting their pay. Ismail Khan, an official at Lashkar Gah police headquarters, said that a seven-year-old girl was among the dead.
Deputy police chief Kamaluddin Sherzad added that the scene of the blast was close to the heavily-secured Helmand governor’s office.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring province of Kandahar, one person was killed and 22 were injured in two car bomb blasts near police posts in the city. A total of 13 children were among the wounded, provincial officials said. Both attacks were strongly condemned by President Hamid Karzai in a statement released by his office.