At least 12 civilians were killed in twin roadside bomb blasts in Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday, blaming the attacks on the Taliban as the militants intensify their summer offensive.
A roadside bomb ripped through a passenger van on Saturday in Tagab district of Kapisa, an often restive province in the mountains east of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing 10 civilians and wounding six others, provincial officials said.
“A civilian van travelling from Kabul to Alasay district of Kapisa hit a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban,” Qais Qaderi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told a foreign news agency.
“Ten civilians, all men, were killed. Three children and three women were wounded,” he said.
Abdul Karim Fayeq, the provincial police chief, confirmed the incident and blamed the Taliban for the blast.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but roadside bombs have been the Taliban’s weapon of choice in their war against foreign and Afghan security forces, now in its 14th year.
The bombs also increasingly kill and wound civilians.
Mohammad Hussain Sanjari, head of the provincial council of Kapisa, said the wounded civilians were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
In another incident, at least two civilians were killed and four civilians and two police were wounded when a police vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Kunduz city on Sunday, provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Husseini said.