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Twin blasts, skirmishes leave 18 Afghans dead in single day

16 July 2012 18:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Taliban-linked roadside bombings and firefights have claimed the lives of 18 Afghan people across the militancy-plagued country in a single day, officials said Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In the latest wave of violent incidents, a roadside bomb struck the vehicle of district governor in the relatively peaceful Kunduz province, 250 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, Monday afternoon wounding three people, police confirmed.

"It was roadside bomb designed to target Nizamudin, the governor of Khan Abad district, but fortunately he escaped unhurt, " police officer Zamarai told Xinhua.

Zamarai said the driver of Nizamudin along with two others sustained injuries in the blast. But an official who declined to be identified said more than 10 people were injured in the blast, some of them in critical condition.

Another roadside bomb struck a car in southern Taliban birthplace Kandahar province in the morning rush hour leaving three people dead and wounding three others.

"The tragic incident happened at around 10:00 a.m. local time when a mine planted by militants on a road in Spin Boldak district struck a civilian car killing three commuters and wounding three others," provincial police chief Abdul Razeq told Xinhua.

All the victims were innocent civilians, he stressed.

The Kandahar police chief blamed Taliban militants for organizing the attack. However, the outfit fighting the government is yet to make comment.

Kandahar the former stronghold of Taliban has also experienced conflicts between security forces and Taliban militants in the wee hours of Monday.

At least 12 militants were killed in the engagement between security forces and Taliban insurgents in Shah Walikot district of Kandahar early Monday, according to Jawed Faisal, the spokesman for the provincial administration.

There were no casualties on the security forces, the official said. Taliban militants made no comment yet.

Three Afghan soldiers were also killed by unknown people in the eastern Nuristan province in early hours of Monday, head of provincial council Anayatullah Mazhabyar said.

Militancy and conflicts have been on constant rise since Taliban launched spring offensive on May 3 this year wherein the militants describe as legitimate target anyone supporting or working for government and the NATO-led troops. Enditem

The Taliban-led attacks have increased by 10 percent within the past three months compared with the first three months this year, a NATO spokesman in Kabul said Monday.