12 road workers killed in Panjwai blast

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): A dozen labourers were killed and 28 others wounded in a roadside bombing in southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, officials said.

A vehicle carrying the workers struck a bomb in Panjwai district, causing the casualties, the provincial deputy police chief, Col. Sher Shah Yousafzai, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Twelve dead bodies and 28 wounded workers were brought to the Mirwais Civil Hospital in Kandahar City, a doctor said on condition of anonymity. Eight of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

Most of the victims belong to central Maidan Wardak and Logar provinces, according to the doctor, who said some hailed from northern Afghanistan.

Amir Jan, one of the injured under medical treatment at the hospital, said he was an employee of the Nesa Construction Company. He went to the troubled district after failing to find work in Kandahar City.

The man said he was paid 500 afghanis ($10.78) a day by the private firm, which is building roads and canals in Panjwai. “Our truck carrying 40 people was blown up soon after three flying coaches overtook it.”

Panjwai district chief Fazluddin Agha, verifying the explosion, said he did not have the exact number of casualties.

More than 35 workers were killed last week when the Taliban rebels stormed a road construction company in the southeastern province of Paktia.

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