Roadside bomb kills 12 Afghan civilians

KABUL, Sept 29 (KUNA) -- A roadside bomb killed 12 passengers in the volatile southern Afghanistan on Tuesday. Fifteen more civilians injured as the bus, they were traveling in, struck a bomb on the road leading from the western Herat province to the southern Kandahar. According to Afghan officials, the bus was coming from Herat to Kandahar province when it struck the bomb in Maiwand district of Kandahar. Sardar Muhammad Zazai, the top police officer in Kandahar, told KUNA over the telephone that the injured were rushed to hospital for treatment. He said being away from the city of Kandahar, they were faced with problems in rescue operations. Zazai blamed the anti-government Taliban for planting the bomb. However, there is no claim of responsibility from the militants. A few days earlier, a UN report said civilians were the major victims of the conflict in Afghanistan. The report said civilian casualties were on top in the war in Afghanistan during the current year. According to the figures collected so far, 1,500 Afghan civilians have been killed in attacks by Taliban, or the foreign and Afghan troops in Afghanistan till the month of August. (end) gk.aj KUNA 291335 Sep 09NNNN