Five Civilians Killed, 17 Wounded in Laghman, Herat Blasts

At least five civilians were killed and 17 others including a policeman were wounded in separate blasts in western Herat and eastern Laghman provinces on Wednesday morning, local officials confirmed.

Three civilians were killed and seven others including a policeman were wounded in a blast targeting a police vehicle in Mehtarlam city, the capital of Laghman province this morning, local officials said.

Also, two civilians were killed and ten others were wounded after a civilian vehicle struck a roadside mine in Kesh-e-Kohna district of the province, said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for provincial governor.

“The civilians were on the way to a wedding party when the incident happened,” said Farhad, adding: “The mine was placed by the Taliban.”

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibly for both blasts.

On Wednesday, Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that the Taliban initiated “575 attacks, including 92 mine blasts and suicide attacks,” against “civilians and security forces” in the past two weeks and “251 civilians were killed and wounded.”