Roadside bombs kill five civilians in Afghanistan

KABUL - Five civilians were killed and five were injured in separate roadside bombs in southern and central Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

Two civilians were killed and two were injured when a roadside bomb blew up a vehicle in Khakriz district of the southern province of Kandahar Tuesday morning, the provincial government said.

Two other civilians were killed in the western province of Farah Monday when their motorbike was struck by a roadside bomb, the interior ministry said.

In a similar attack, a guard working for a private security company was killed and three others were injured in the central province of Wardak, also on Monday, the statement said.

Roadside bombings increased by 94 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 2009, according to the UN. Most of the 318 foreign troops killed so far this year were victims of such attacks.