‘Attacks kill 7 civilians, including girls, in Afghanistan’

At least seven civilians including girls have been killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, Press TV reports.

In the first incident, a vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) in Khashin district overnight, leaving five civilians including a woman dead, said local governor Shah Muhammad Mir on Tuesday.

In Musa Qaleh district, two girls died and a woman sustained injuries when a mortar shell landed in a home on Monday.

No group has yet claimed the responsibility for the attacks, but local officials blamed Taliban for the bombings.

Taliban militants mostly use roadside bombs and IEDs against Afghan forces, foreign troops and civilians.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The invasion removed the Taliban from power, but Afghanistan remains insecure despite the presence of tens of thousands of US-led forces there.

The US-led war, which has caused record-high civilian and military casualties, has become the longest military conflict in the American history.