10 wedding guests dead in Helmand bombing

LASHKARGAH (PAN and children, were killed on Thursday morning when a pick-up truck carrying a wedding party struck a road-side bomb in the southern Helmand province, officials said.

The wedding guests were riding in a pick-up truck when their vehicle hit a mine in the Toghi region of Musa Qala district, 80 kilometers north of Lashkargah, the provincial capital, Col. Mohammad Ismail Hotak, deputy police chief for coordination, told Pajhwok Afghan News. 

Seven civilians were wounded in the explosion, he said, adding that the injured had been taken to local hospitals. 

Haji Amir Mohammad, the deputy police chief of Musa Qala, said the wounded were all children.  He said the 10 civilians killed in the explosion included five women, four men and a child.  

Hotak, the deputy police chief, accused the Taliban of planting the improvised explosive device that caused the blast.  However, the insurgents have not yet commented on the incident.

Thursday’s incident was the latest in a string of recent roadside explosions that have left a number of civilians dead. Last week, two separate explosions in Musa Qala killed 11 civilians and injured five others. 

Two weeks ago, 19 civilians in a wedding party were killed when the van carrying them hit a roadside bomb in the Daulatabad district of of the northern Balkh province.

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