7 of a family killed in Helmand blast

LASHKARGAH (PAN): Seven members of a family, including five children, were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southern Helmand province, an official said on Friday.

The explosion took place late on Thursday in the Musalmani area of the Musa Qala district, where the van hit a roadside bomb, the police spokesman, Farid Ahmad Farhang, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the victims, travelling to the district centre, included Haji Syed Mohmmad Aka, his spouse, three daughters and two sons. One member of the ill-fated family was wounded.

As local police officials reached the scene for a rescue operation, a second bomb exploded, killing one of them, the spokesman added.

Aka was an impartial elder with no links to the Taliban or the government, said a resident of Shahban area, Abdul Khaliq.

“Poor civilians are being killed in such attacks. Several children and their mother were killed last week by an ISAF airstrike in Sangin district,” he recalled, asking all parties to the war to void civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed the fighters had blown up two military vehicles in Sarbikhi and Musalmani villages, killing four international troops.

myn/mud                                                              

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