Off the wire
• Urgent: Roadside bomb kills 6 civilians in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province  • FLASH: CASUALTIES FEARED AS BLAST HITS CIVILIAN CAR IN AFGHANISTAN SOUTHERN URUZGAN PROVINCE -- OFFICIAL  • Cambodia protests India's plan to build replica of iconic Angkor Wat Temple  • Urgent: Egyptian court annuls blacklisting Hamas as terror group  • Urgent: Death toll rises to 19 on Malaysia's mount Kinabalu after quake: official  • Saudi forces intercept Houthi scud missile  • Syrian army, Hezbollah capture strategic mountainous point near Lebanon  • Eastern Star oil spill cleaned up  • New deal for Sevilla coach Emery ends doubts over his future  • S.Korea urges DPRK to return to dialogue table for denuclearization  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: 2 roadside bombs kill 11 Afghan civilians, Taliban overruns district

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The ongoing militancy claimed the lives of 11 civilians in the southern region of the conflict- ridden Afghanistan on Friday, while Taliban outfit overran Yamgan district in the northeast Badakhshan province on Saturday.

Six civilians were killed as a roadside bomb organized by militants struck a car in the southern Kandahar province on Friday evening, a local official said Saturday. "Six civilians including four women were killed as their car ran over a mine on a road in Shah Walikot district, Kandahar province on Friday evening," spokesman for provincial government Samim Khapalwak told Xinhua.

He also blamed the enemies of peace, a term used against Taliban militants by officials, for organizing the roadside attack.

In a similar violent incident five more civilians lost their lives as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the neighboring Ghazni province on the same day on Friday, an official said. "A vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Naghi area of provincial capital Ghazni city at around noon on Friday. The blast killed five civilians and injured five others aboard the vehicle. All the victims are innocent civilians," deputy to Ghazni's provincial governor, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, told Xinhua.

Taliban militants fighting the government to regain power, according to Afghan officials, are behind subversive activities and indiscriminate killing of civilians

In another development, Taliban militants following heavy clashes overrun Yamgan district in Afghanistan's northeast Badakhshan province on Saturday, local officials and media reported. "Following heavy clash, Yamgan district was captured by Taliban militants on Saturday morning," a local television channel Tolo said citing local officials.

Similarly, a lawmaker Abdul Wali Niazi in talks with local media also confirmed the fall of Yamgan district to Taliban outfit.

Meantime, the deputy to Badakhshan provincial government, Gul Mohammad Bedar in talks with Xinhua said that heavy clash is still going on between security forces and Taliban militants and the government is sending reinforcement to dislodge advancing militants from Yamgan district.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media claimed that the Taliban forces captured Yamgan district at 10:30 a.m. local time Saturday and government troops retreated from the area.

Taliban militants would take more grounds if the government fails to take necessary steps to wide out armed militants, lawmaker Niazi warned. Endi