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Blast kills 10 Afghan civilians

November 8, 2012

A roadside bomb in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province has killed 10 civilians, police say. Deadly attacks on security forces also took place in Kandahar and across the border in Pakistan.

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Map of Afghanistan showing Kabul
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The civilians killed in the blast on Thursday were reported to have been on their way to a wedding when their vehicle triggered the roadside device.

"A minivan heading to a wedding party was hit by a roadside bomb in Musa Qala district, killing five women, four men and a child," the DPA news agency reported police officer Mohammad Ismael as saying.

Seven children were also wounded in the blast, which was blamed by the police on Taliban insurgents.

The attack came on a day that had already seen eight members of the Afghan security forces killed in two separate attacks.

In a pre-dawn attack in the city of Kandahar, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives at a police checkpoint, killing three Afghan policemen.

Meanwhile in the eastern province of Laghman, five troops were killed when their convoy struck a land mine.

Huge blast rocks Karachi

In neighboring Pakistan, a suicide attacker struck at a paramilitary compound in the country's largest city, Karachi, on Thursday. More than 20 people were injured in the truck bomb attack, in which some 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives were detonated.

"Several quarters inside the complex collapsed while some adjacent buildings sustained damage because of the sheer impact of the blast," said Karachi Deputy Police Chief Tariq Odho.

The attacks came as the city's main political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has been urging the government to tackle Taliban elements in the city.

rc/hc (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)