Roadside bombs kill 19 civilians, 2 NATO service members in Afghanistan
By Associated Press
7/29/2011
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two roadside bombs killed 19 civilians Friday in southern Afghanistan as non-combatants increasingly fall victim to the fighting between Taliban insurgents and the U.S.-led coalition. A bomb also killed two NATO service members, the alliance said.
A minibus ran over a bomb in Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province, setting off a blast that killed all 18 passengers, said Kamaluddin Sherzai, the province's deputy police chief.
"The mine was very powerful and destroyed the vehicle," he said. "They were all civilians. Some were children."
In the second blast, a farm tractor struck a mine in Garmser district, killing one civilian and wounding four others who were riding the vehicle, Sherzai said.
Police who responded to the minibus explosion came under fire from insurgents, but there were no casualties among the policemen.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombings as brutal and inhumane and said they "cannot be justified by any religious faith."
In a midyear report, the United Nations said the number of Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence rose 15 percent in the first half of 2011.
The report said 1,462 Afghan civilians lost their lives, including 444 killed by roadside bombs. During the first half of last year, 1,271 Afghan civilians were killed in the war.
Violence has been on the rise as insurgents try to regain territory lost last fall and winter to the U.S.-led coalition in southern Afghanistan. Suicide attacks and other bombings have intensified, with militants trying to undermine confidence in the Afghan government's ability to provide security as U.S. and other coalition combat forces start to withdraw.
In eastern Afghanistan, a bomb killed two NATO service members, the coalition said. It did not identify their nationalities or provide details.
In the same region, a security force led by Afghan troops freed a family that was taken hostage by insurgents in the Dila district of Paktika province, NATO said.
Insurgents captured the family on Thursday during a battle with Afghan and NATO troops who were searching for a local leader of the Haqqani network, which is affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida. Several insurgents were killed in the fighting, but the family was not harmed, the coalition said.
Also in the east, a Taliban leader disguised as a woman was killed Thursday after he tried to attack an Afghan-led security force.
The leader was hiding under a burqa, the long, all-encompassing garment worn by some Afghan women, when he was spotted by pro-government troops. He was killed after he ran to a nearby tent and tried to get a weapon to attack the troops.