The Taliban on Sunday rejected a UN report that roadside bombs caused the most civilian casualties in Afghanistan, calling it a “Western propaganda”.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said they only used the bombs to target foreign troops and Afghan security forces. “By spreading such propaganda they are trying to prevent us from planting bombs which cause the deaths of invaders in our country,” he said in an email. The UN mission in Afghanistan on Saturday urged insurgents to end the use of roadside bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, saying they were by far the biggest killer of civilians in the conflict. The call came a day after 19 civilians died and 15 were injured when their bus struck a mine in northern Balkh province on Friday.
The UN said the blast was caused by an IED planted along a busy public road and set off by a pressure plate. It said the bomb was “consistent with documented patterns and tactics of choice by the Taliban”. IEDs killed 340 civilians and injured a further 599 over the past nine months, an increase of almost 30 percent compared to the same period last year, the UN said. But the Taliban spokesman denied any insurgents were operating in the area of Balkh province where Friday’s blast occurred. He said the Taliban used only remote-controlled roadside bombs which, unlike the devices automatically activated by pressure-plates, allowed a bomber to choose the time of the blast and specifically target coalition troops and their Afghan allies.
