Blast kills seven civilians in Afghanistan
By DPA, IANSTuesday, February 23, 2010
LASHKARGAH - Seven civilians were killed and 14 injured Tuesday in the detonation of a bicycle loaded with explosives in southern Afghanistan, an official said.
The explosion took place at a bus station in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, Tuesday morning, said Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
“All the seven dead and 14 wounded people were civilians,” he said. “We don’t know what the target of the attack was, because there were no security forces or government officials in the area at the time of the blast.”
Ahmadi blamed “enemies of Afghanistan” for the attack, a common term used by Afghan government officials to describe Taliban militants.
Helmand province is the focus of an ongoing offensive by more than 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops. It is the biggest military campaign since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.
The suicide attack came one day after a suicide bomber in the eastern province of Nangahar killed 15 people - nearly all civilians - including a tribal elder.
