Herat:
A roadside bomb ripped through a crowded Afghan bus today, killing up to 25 civilians in a southwestern province on the Iranian border in one of the deadliest such attacks in months.
The bomb exploded as the bus travelled on a highway through Nimroz province, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad and the interior ministry said.
Although there was no claim of responsibility, officials blamed the attack on the Taliban, which is fighting to overthrow the Afghan government and evict nearly 150,000 foreign troops in a nine-year insurgency.
Azad said more than 20 civilians were killed in the blast. The interior ministry in Kabul put the death toll at 25 with more than 20 others injured.
"The bomb was planted by the enemies because this morning a coalition convoy was supposed to cross the area," Azad said, referring to NATO forces.
"Coalition forces helped us to evacuate the injured." Afghan civilians are bearing the brunt of the war, suffering death and injury in crossfire, suicide attacks and
from roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which kill and maim indiscriminately.
Surveys show that most civilian casualties in the war are caused by Taliban attacks. Roadside bombs are the militants' main weapon.
A NATO spokesman said civilian casualties caused by coalition's operations had fallen by nearly 11 per cent in recent months while the number of non-combatants killed in militant attacks had increased by nearly 40 per cent. The force was doing "all we can" to protect civilians, German Brigadier General Josef Blotz, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said.
President Hamid Karzai issued a statement "strongly" condemning the bombing.
Thousands of Pentagon files leaked earlier this week indicated that civilian deaths have been covered up and that Iran is funding the Taliban eight years after the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the radical Islamist regime from power.
The bomb exploded as the bus travelled on a highway through Nimroz province, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad and the interior ministry said.
Although there was no claim of responsibility, officials blamed the attack on the Taliban, which is fighting to overthrow the Afghan government and evict nearly 150,000 foreign troops in a nine-year insurgency.
Azad said more than 20 civilians were killed in the blast. The interior ministry in Kabul put the death toll at 25 with more than 20 others injured.
"The bomb was planted by the enemies because this morning a coalition convoy was supposed to cross the area," Azad said, referring to NATO forces.
"Coalition forces helped us to evacuate the injured." Afghan civilians are bearing the brunt of the war, suffering death and injury in crossfire, suicide attacks and
from roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which kill and maim indiscriminately.
Surveys show that most civilian casualties in the war are caused by Taliban attacks. Roadside bombs are the militants' main weapon.
A NATO spokesman said civilian casualties caused by coalition's operations had fallen by nearly 11 per cent in recent months while the number of non-combatants killed in militant attacks had increased by nearly 40 per cent. The force was doing "all we can" to protect civilians, German Brigadier General Josef Blotz, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said.
President Hamid Karzai issued a statement "strongly" condemning the bombing.
Thousands of Pentagon files leaked earlier this week indicated that civilian deaths have been covered up and that Iran is funding the Taliban eight years after the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the radical Islamist regime from power.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
