8 civilians killed in Afghanistan’s Nimroz

At least eight civilians including four children were killed when their rickshaw struck a roadside bomb in the southwest Afghanistan, officials say.

The explosion happened late Wednesday in Khashrod district, Ahmad Arab, the spokesman for the provincial governor in Nimroz province said on Thursday.

He said “Four children, a woman and two men have been killed,” adding that the victims were all relatives.

“Another family member who was wounded and taken to the hospital died later,” he added.

No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but such incidents are usually blamed on Taliban militants.

Afghan security forces inspect the site of a blast at a police arms depot in Kandahar on April 21, 2015. (AFP photo)
Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, the governor of Nimroz, blamed the Taliban militants for the incident and said, “The bomb had been planted to target Afghan security forces.”

Also three people, including a senior security official, were killed on Wednesday after two bomb blasts rocked Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province.

The recent blasts in Afghanistan occurred after Taliban announced that its annual Spring offensive will begin later this week.

The militant group said in a statement sent to media on Wednesday that the Taliban is “going to launch the Spring operations under the inspirational name of ‘Azm’ (determination) at 5 a.m. [local time (0030 GMT)] on 24th April 2015.”