A series of bombs and explosions have killed 20 people in Afghanistan's southern and eastern flashpoints, among them at least eight children and four women, government officials said.
In the deadliest attack, a vehicle hit a mine in Arghandab district of the southern province of Kandahar, one of the main battlegrounds in the nearly 10-year Taliban-led insurgency against the Kabul government and NATO troops.
‘Today at 10am, 15 civilians were killed, including eight children, four women and three men,’ the ministry said.
One woman was also wounded in the explosion, it added.
Attacks also hit eastern Afghanistan, which like the south has been a main flashpoint for violence particularly in areas bordering Pakistan, where Afghan Taliban and other militants have carved out safe havens.
The interior ministry said six civilians, including a woman and two children, were wounded by mortar bombs fired at a district police headquarters in the eastern province of Kunar.
In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber killed three people including the commander of a provincial Afghan police rapid reaction force and wounded 12 others, officials said.
Two policemen were killed and nine wounded when two successive blasts hit the eastern province of Laghman, also in the border with Pakistan.
The interior ministry said the first explosion occurred in the provincial capital Mehtar Lam, which caused no casualties, followed by a second explosion when police arrived at the scene, causing the fatalities.
