Five family members killed in blast in Afghanistan

KABUL - A couple and three of their children were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in southeastern Afghanistan, a government spokesman said Monday.

The explosion occurred Sunday in the Zurmat district of Paktia province, Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

“The couple, one daughter and two of their sons were killed in the blast,” he said.

No group took responsibility for the attack.

One child was killed and four policemen and 14 civilians were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near a NATO convoy in Ismail Khel district of neighbouring Khost province, Abdul Hakim, the provincial police chief, said.

NATO also confirmed the attack Sunday night, saying one of its vehicles was slightly damaged, but there were no troop casualties.

More than 15 suspected Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike in Sangin district of the southern province of Helmand after the militants attacked a joint patrol of Afghan and NATO forces, the military alliance said in a separate statement Sunday night.

“The resulting close air support and combined force firefight killed more than 15 insurgents,” it said.