Nine civilians killed in Helmand violence

LASHKARGAH (PAN): As many as nine civilians have been killed in separate incidents of violence in the southern province of Helmand, officials said on Friday.

A passenger vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Sangin district on Friday, leaving five passengers dead and a sixth injured, the district chief, Sharifullah Khan, told Pajhwok Afghan News. The injured person was airlifted by foreign troops in a helicopter to the troops’ health facility in the district, he said.

The victims, all residents of Qala area, were heading toward the district bazaar when the blast ripped through their vehicle, the official said.

Sharifullah blamed the Taliban insurgents for the blast, saying the militants had lost courage to enter a face-to-face engagement with security forces.

On Thursday, two civilians were killed in a militant attack in the Greskh district, an Afghan security official said on condition of anonymity.

The two were travelling in a car to attend a wedding party in the area when they were attacked by insurgents, he said.

Also on Thursday night, two civilians were killed when their vehicle stuck a roadside bomb in Nawa district.

The UN said on Thursday that nearly 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in violence related incidents across Afghanistan in the first half of 2011, showing a 15 percent surge in civilian casualties.

Putting the year on track to be the deadliest in a decade, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the disturbing rise in deaths came after the United States sent thousands of extra troops into Afghanistan

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