KABUL  - A roadside bomb killed four civilians in Afghanistan’s southern prov-ince of Uruzgan Friday, the provincial head of the criminal investigation unit said.
Also in the volatile south, a member of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force was killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) attack, Isaf said in a statement. The nationality was not released in line with policy.
“Four civilians were killed and one injured when their vehicle hit a Taliban-planted mine in Trinkot city this morning,” said Uruzgan CID chief Gulab Khan. All the victims were male and the civilian who was injured was in a critical condition, he added.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but roadside bombs are frequently planted by Taliban-led insurgents fighting a decade-long war against NATO-led foreign troops and Afghan government forces.
“Those responsible for this shameful attack must be held to account for their actions against the people of Afghanistan,” said Isaf commander General John Allen.
In a separate incident in the neighbouring southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban said they were behind a roadside bomb which killed a local police commander Thursday.
“Last night a police vehicle hit a roadside mine in Spin Boldak district. As a result a border police commander was killed and two of his bodyguards were injured,” said provincial police chief Gen Abdul Razeq Friday.
There are around 130,000 international troops, mainly from the United States, in Afghanistan helping government forces combat the insurgency.
The United Nations said the number of civilians killed in violence in Afghanistan rose by 15 per cent in the first six months of this year to 1,462, with insurgents blamed for 80 percent of the killings.