Dozens of passengers, mainly women and children, killed in western Afghanistan when the bus they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb – officials
Dozens of passengers, mainly women and children, were killed in western Afghanistan early on Wednesday when the bus they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb, officials said.
"A passenger bus travelling on the Kandahar-Herat highway hit a Taliban roadside bomb. So far at least 34 killed, 10 wounded," said Muhibullah Muhib, the spokesman for Farah province. All were civilians, mostly women and children, he said. Farooq Barakzai, a spokesman for Farah's governor, confirmed the toll but warned it may rise higher.It came one day after the United Nations said civilians are being killed and wounded at a "shocking" level in Afghanistan's war, despite a push to end the nearly 18-year-old conflict.
Casualties have dropped 27 percent in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year, which was a record, but nonetheless 1,366 civilians were killed and another 2,446 injured. The UN branded efforts to reduce the violence "insufficient". It also said that US and pro-government forces caused more civilian deaths than the Taliban and other insurgent groups for the second quarter running.The bloodshed comes amid a months-long, US-led push to forge a peace deal with the Taliban that would see foreign forces quit the country in return for various security guarantees.
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