At least 14 civilians were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Kijran district in the central province of Daikundi on Tuesday morning, according to a statement by the Interior Affairs Ministry.
The bomb targeted a bus carrying civilians in Dasht-e-Sulaiman village, said Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
He said that seven women, five children and two men were among those killed in the blast.
Daikundi is otherwise considered a secure provinces of the country. This is the second blast in the province so far this year, according to government data.
The ministry has blamed the Taliban for the explosion. The Taliban has not commented on the incident.
The explosion comes as efforts are underway to end the ongoing conflicts in the country through a political settlement.
Civilian Casualties
A UN report in April showed that more than 500 civilians, including more than 150 children, were killed due to the fighting in Afghanistan during the first quarter of 2020.
The report said there was a total of 1,293 civilian casualties (533 killed and 760 injured) in Afghanistan during the first three months of the year.
According to the report, the number of civilian deaths attributed to anti-government groups–particularly the Taliban – increased by “22 percent” in the first quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019, mainly due to an “increase in targeted killings and summary executions.”
