6 children playing cricket killed in Ghazni blast

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Half a dozen children were killed and 10 others wounded when a bomb exploded at a cricket playground in southern Ghazni province on Monday, officials and residents said.

The blast took place in the Qala-i-Qazi area of Ghazni City, the provincial capital, before noon when the children were playing cricket.

After the blast, residents took to the streets and placed the dead bodies in front of the governor’s house, demanding the arrest of the perpetrators. The protestors, mostly relatives of the victims, said the blast took place when the children were playing.

Ghazn’s deputy police chief Asadullah Insafi told Pajhwok Afghan News the explosives had been attached to a bicycle abandoned in the playground. As children started playing cricket, the bomb went off, killing six and injuring 10 others.

Residents of the area, who placed the coffins in front of the governor’s office, asked the government to arrest the perpetrators and award them harsh punishment.

Ibrahim, whose brother was killed in the blast, blamed the Taliban. He told Pajhwok Afghan News the government had unnecessarily established security posts in some areas.

“The death of children should be avenged. Everyone involved in the heinous crime be punished severely,” the brother said.

Lal Mohammad, whom a number of relatives were among the victims, said the children were busy playing cricket when the Taliban remotely detonated the bomb. He said the injured children had been taken to hospital.

The deputy police chief said an investigation had been opened into the incident. “The Taliban have said cricket is illegitimate and children and youth should not play it.”

However, the Taliban have said nothing about the blast.

ma/mud

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