Roundup: Suicide car bomb, mortar attack kill 5, wounds 63 in S. Afghanistan

A suicide car bomb and a mortar attack ostensibly organized by Taliban militants have claimed five lives and injured 63 others with vast the majority of them civilians in the southern Helmand and Uruzgan provinces since Monday, officials confirmed.

In the latest violent incident which occurred in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Tuesday morning three attackers and two civilians were killed, a local official confirmed.

"A suicide bomber blew up his explosive-borne car near the provincial police department at 09:45 a.m. local time today, killing himself and two civilians and injuring 51 others," spokesman for Helmand's provincial governor Omar Zwak told Xinhua.

Two more armed militants, who tried to enter the building, were shot dead by security forces after a firefight, the official said.

A total of 49 civilians including women and children are among those who sustained injuries in the deadly attack, the official added.

In another violent incident which happened in the neighboring Uruzgan province, 12 civilians, all from the same family had been injured as a mortar fired by militants struck their house on Monday, provincial government said in a statement released Tuesday.

"A total of 12 people, all civilians including women and children were injured as a mortar mine struck a house in Deh Rawad district on Monday afternoon," the statement said.

Although Taliban militants are yet to claim responsibility for the bloody attacks, officials blamed the Taliban outfit for conducting the attacks.

Helmand and Uruzgan have been regarded as Taliban hotbed in south Afghanistan.

Taliban militants fighting the government to regain power have intensified activities since launching their annual spring offensive on April 24 and since then have conducted a series of deadly attacks in different parts of the country which claimed hundreds of lives. Endi