3 Afghan Civilians Die in Bombing in Helmand

Three Afghan civilians were killed and five others were wounded Wednesday morning in a roadside bombing in the country’s Southern province of Helmand, said a provincial government spokesman.

“A civilian vehicle was traveling along a road to a local marketplace in Nahri Sarraj district at around 7:30 a.m. local time. The ill-fated vehicle ran over a roadside bombing, leaving the casualties,” spokesman Omar Zhwak told Xinhua.

Two women were among the wounded, Zhwak said, blaming Taliban militants for placing the bomb in the province 555 km South of Afghan capital Kabul.

A total of 2,754 civilians were killed and 4,805 wounded in conflict-related violence in 2012, according to a UN report released on February 19 in Kabul.

The Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)s were the single largest killer of Afghan civilians in 2012, leaving 868 people dead and 1,663 others wounded, the report added.