திருமண விழாவில் அமைதி மார்க்கம் தாக்குதல்- 21 பேர் பலி

திருமண விழாவுக்கு சென்றுகொண்டிருந்த பொதுமக்கள் மீது அமைதி மார்க்க போராளிகள் தாக்கியதில் 21 பேர் பலியானார்கள்.

Afghan car bombs kill 21 going to wedding
Second attack

Roadside bomb killed 21 people going to a wedding in the Afghan Helmand province

Kandahar, AFGHANISTAN (Agencies)

A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying people to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians in one of the deadliest strikes in weeks, Afghan officials said on Thursday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimi confirmed the incident and the death toll, as did the Interior Ministry in a statement, which said five other civilians were wounded.

" It's the work of the enemy of the nation, it's the work of the enemy of peace and the work of the Taliban "
Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai,"A trailer being towed by a tractor was hit by a roadside bomb... and killed 21 civilians and wounded six others," Afghan General Shir Mohammad Zazai said.

The attack was part of a mounting wave of violence two weeks before Afghans go to the polls for a presidential election.

Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai, commander of an Afghan military unit in Helmand province, said the explosion happened in Garmsir, a district of the province where U.S. Marines launched the biggest operation of the war last month against Taliban fighters.

It was one of the deadliest bombings in weeks and comes with Afghanistan buffeted by soaring insurgent attacks and suffering record levels of violence in the eight years since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime.

"It's the work of the enemy of the nation, it's the work of the enemy of peace and the work of the Taliban," Zazai said.

In rural Afghanistan, where most people live in poverty without private vehicles, trailers are often harnessed to farm tractors to transport people.


Second attack

A separate roadside bomb exploded next to a police vehicle on Thursday in another part of Helmand province, the Nad Ali district, killing five policemen and wounding three others, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Last month U.S. and British forces launched simultaneous major operations in Helmand province, and they are still fighting to secure areas previously held by Taliban insurgents.

Violence across Afghanistan this year has reached its worst levels since U.S.-led Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001. More than 1,000 civilians were killed between January and June this year, up from 818 in the same period last year, the United Nations said last month.

The operations are meant to expand the Afghan government's control of the volatile south ahead of an Aug. 20 presidential election, part of Washington's effort to defeat militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the election and have called on Afghans to boycott the ballot.

In another incident, a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the western province of Farah while on patrol on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.

At least 71 international troops were killed in July, the worst monthly toll for foreign forces since the start of the war.