10 civilians killed in bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan

SHARAN, Afghanistan, Jan. 7  — At least 10 civilians were killed and 13 others wounded after a bomb ripped through a district bazaar in eastern Afghan province of Paktika on Monday, a local official said.
“Ten martyred and 13 wounded civilians were admitted to a main hospital in the provincial capital Sharan city Monday morning following a bomb attack in Jani Khil district,” Mohammad Raffah, a provincial health official, told Xinhua.
Those among the killed were two children, and three wounded who received life-threatening injuries were shifted to Afghan capital of Kabul for treatment, he said.
The blast occurred after an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at a bazaar in Jani Khil district on Monday morning, according to a local police source.
The Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as more than 2,790 civilians were killed and over 5,250 others injured in conflict-related incidents in first nine months of year, according to figures released by the United Nations (UN) mission in the country.
The police source blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack.
Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, killing government troops as well as civilians.
The UN mission has attributed 65 percent of the civilian casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 20 percent to security forces over the period while 11 percent to both sides during clashes and the rest 4 percent were caused by other reasons.
In a separate development, five police personnel and three Taliban militants were killed after militants stormed a security checkpoint along a main roadway in Faizabad district of northern Jawzjan province on Sunday night, provincial Governor Lutfullah Azizi told Xinhua earlier on Monday.
The militants overran the checkpoint and took several rounds of guns and ammunition after the clash. – XINHUA