59 children died in suicide bomb in Afghanistan
Fifty-nine schoolchildren were confirmed dead today and 96 others were injured in the suicide attack in northern Afghanistan earlier this week.
The schoolchildren were lined up to greet a group of politicians visiting a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives.
In total, at least 75 people were killed, including several members of parliament.
Fifty-nine schoolchildren aged eight to 18 and five teachers were among those killed in the attack, said education ministry spokesman Zahoor Afghan.
The attack was the deadliest in the country since the toppling of the Taliban regime from power in the 2001 US-led invasion.
Mr Afghan said: “The education minister has ordered that no children should be ever again be used in these sort of events.”
Afghan president Hamid Karzai declared three days of mourning on Wednesday and ordered an investigation. No group has claimed responsibility, and the Taliban denied any involvement.
Nato and Afghan troops, meanwhile, fought with Taliban fighters near Gulistan district, in western Farah province, today.
The soldiers seized the district centre after it was overrun by militants last week.
In southern Zabul province, Taliban militants on motorbikes ambushed and killed Shahjoy’s district chief and two of his bodyguards yesterday.
The victims were shopping in a market when four militants on two motorbikes shot them dead.
US-led coalition forces and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents in southern Helmand province’s Nahr Surk district on Wednesday, leaving several militants dead, a coalition statement said.
The joint force was conducting a reconnaissance patrol near the district when insurgents engaged them with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, the statement said.
“The combined force immediately engaged the Taliban fighters with small-arms fire and close air support, killing many of the insurgents before they fled the area,” it said.
Violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the Taliban were ousted.
More than 5,700 people, mostly militants, have died so far this year in insurgency-related violence.
