6 civilians killed in roadside bombing
11 August, 2012
LASHKAR GAH: Up to six Afghan civilians were killed and one injured Friday morning when a car ran over a roadside bomb in the country's southern province of Helmand.
"A civilian's car was running along a road in Dahzor area of Musa Qala district at around 9 a.m. local time today but the ill- fated vehicle touched off a bomb and the blast killed six passengers and injured one other," a senior police official Mohammad Ismail Hotak saied.
He blamed Taliban insurgents for the attack. Taliban militants have been largely relying on roadside bombing and suicide attacks in fighting Afghan security force and NATO-led troops based in Afghanistan, often causing civilian casualties.
The insurgent group, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have yet to make comments.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012, in conflict-related violent incidents, a total of 1,145 civilians were killed and 1,954 injured, a 15 percent decrease in overall civilian casualties compared with the same period in 2011, a mid-year report released by the United Nations office in capital city of Kabul on Wednesday said.
In a separate development, a police officer shot dead four members of Afghan Special Forces in a checkpost in Helmand's Sangin district in the early Friday morning.
"The police officer invited the four cops to the checkpost in Bostanzoi area of Sangin district but at around 2 a.m. local time Friday shot them while sleeping," administration district chief Mohammad Sharif said.
He said the officer has fled the area and an investigation was launched into the incident.
Such incidents, for which Taliban frequently claim responsibility, happened also in the past when members of Afghan police or army turned their weapons against their fellows or the soldiers with the NATO-led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), killing or injuring them.
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