Kabul, July 20 (DPA) Eleven civilians including a woman and a child were killed in a bomb blast in southwestern Afghanistan, while NATO-led German forces killed three civilians after mistaking them for Taliban militants in the northern region, officials said Monday.
The 11 civilians were travelling in a minibus in Gulistan district of Farah province Sunday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, spokesman for police forces in the western region, said.
“Eleven civilians, including a child and a woman and the rest men, were killed in this explosion,” Ahmadi said, adding that a second vehicle which arrived at the scene to evacuate the bodies was blown up by another roadside bomb, injuring the driver.
Ahmadi blamed “enemies of Afghanistan”, a term often used by Afghan officials to describe Taliban militants, for the attack.
The British defence ministry said Monday that a British soldier had died in southern Afghanistan. The soldier was on patrol in Helmand province Sunday when a bomb blast killed him.
Since the beginning of Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan in 2001, a total of 186 British troops have been killed. Seventeen have died in July alone.
Meanwhile, German forces in the northern province of Kunduz killed three civilians and wounded two others Sunday after mistaking them for Taliban militants, Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor, told DPA.
“The German forces had intelligence information that armed Taliban were travelling in a civilian vehicle,” Omar said, adding that the forces opened fire on the targeted vehicle after it did not stop at a checkpoint.
“After the shooting, the German force realised that the armed Taliban had got off the vehicle before reaching the checkpoint,” the governor said. “Two men and one child were killed and two other passengers were wounded in the shooting,” he said.
The wounded civilians were undergoing treatment in a German hospital in the province, the governor added.
Civilian casualties at the hands of NATO-led forces have become a delicate issue in Afghanistan. Senior Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai, have repeatedly warned that mounting civilian deaths would turn the Afghan people against their government and international forces in the country.
Around 4,000 German troops are stationed under the banner of NATO-led international forces in the northern region, which includes Kunduz province.
