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18 killed in S Afghanistan violence

28 July 2011 17:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A series of bomb explosions and militant attacks on government buildings have killed at least 18 people and wounded several others in the troubled southern Afghanistan, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The bomb blasts targeted the provincial governor’s office, a local television station and the highway police department in Afghanistan’s provincial capital of Uruzgan, Tarin Kowt.

Local authorities say several explosions also rocked the city. A BBC Afghan journalist is among the dead.

"Up to now 18 people have been killed and 35 have been wounded, including military personnel and civilians. Unfortunately, one journalist is among the dead," AFP quoted Khan Agha Nehakhil, head of Uruzgan’s health department as saying.

Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in US-led operations or Taliban attacks in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.

Southern Afghanistan is among the most volatile regions of the war-torn country. US-led foreign troops have suffered their heaviest casualties in those areas since the US-led war began in 2001.

The war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record highs, has become the longest war in US history.