Afghanistan: 16 civilians killed in roadside bomb explosions

Two separate bomb explosions in northern Afghanistan have killed at least 16 people including mostly women and girls, Afghan officials said on November 28. According to the interior ministry spokesperson, a roadside bomb had struck a civilian vehicle on the way to a wedding on the evening of November 27, killing six women, six girls, and two infants along with a male driver. The two others were wounded in the northeastern province in Afghanistan, Kunduz. Hours after, the explosion in Kunduz was followed by a gunfight and another explosion at a security checkpoint which killed at least one policeman. 

The militants were reportedly carrying explosives in the vehicle and were stopped at the checkpoint in the morning of November 28. However, they opened fire in order to cover their escape. The interior ministry spokesperson said that they reportedly detonated the explosives remotely after getting away from the police authorities at the checkpoint. The investigations on both incidents are ongoing. Even though the Taliban has not commented after the incident, the Interior ministry reportedly blames the militant group for the two attacks.

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Roadside explosion kills 8

Earlier this month, an Afghan official said a roadside explosion killed at least eight civilians in northern Baghlan province. The police chief's spokesperson Jawed Basharat has said that six other people have been wounded in the attacks in the Dand Shabuddin area on the outskirts of Puli Khumri which is the provincial capital of Baghlan. the casualties include women and children. It is believed that the area of the explosion is under Taliban control and no group has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack. The Taliban tend to have a strong presence in the area and generally targets Afghan security forces in and around Puli Khumri which results in the killing of a huge number of civilians in the attacks. 

Read - Official: Roadside Explosion Kills 8 Civilians In Afghanistan

An Afghan news agency reported that according to a United Nations Assistance Mission report, in just the first nine months of 2019, the organization has documented the death of 2,563 civilians along with 5,676 wounded people which is fairly similar to the count of 2018 however, in the third quarter of this year, there was an unusual spike in civilian casualties with 1,174 deaths and injury of 3,139 which according to the UNAMA, it is the highest number of deaths since it started documentation in 2009. There is a 42 per cent increase from that of the previous year.

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(With AP inputs)