Roadside bombs kill 9 civilians in Afghanistan

At least nine civilians have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries in two separate roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan.

According to Afghan officials, the first blast took place in the country’s southern province of Helmand on Monday, killing six people and wounding five others, including three women and two children from the same family.

Another explosion in the central province of Ghor late on Sunday killed three civilian lives and injured eight others mostly women and children.

No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks, but such incidents are mostly blamed on Taliban militants who frequently target security forces as well as with homemade bombs placed along roads and footpaths.

Late last month, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had recorded 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injuries in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2016.

In a separate development on Monday, an Australian aid worker who had been abducted in Afghanistan was freed by the country’s security forces after four months in captivity.

SS