19-11-2024 06:27 AM Jerusalem Timing

10 Children Returning Home from School among 13 Killed in Afghan Suicide Attack

10 Children Returning Home from School among 13 Killed in Afghan Suicide Attack

A suicide bomb attack targeting US and Afghan forces killed 10 children outside a school as they headed home from class in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, AFP quoted officials as saying.

A suicide bomb attack, claimed to be targeting US and Afghan forces, killed 10 children outside a school as they headed home from class in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, AFP quoted officials as saying.

Pakita provinceOne policeman was also killed and two coalition soldiers were among some 16 people wounded, Zalmai Uriakhail, the police chief of Paktia province, told AFP, adding that the attack used an explosives-packed motorcycle.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it had no information on casualties but was looking into the incident.

Uriakhail said the attack occurred in a market in Chamkani district at about 11:00 am as pupils were leaving school after morning lessons.

“A suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives in a crowded area outside the school," he said. "The children had finished their studies and they were heading home.”

The interior ministry confirmed the attack and said 10 children and a policeman were killed, with 15 children also injured.

The attack came hours after a roadside bomb killed seven members of a family in Laghman province, also in east Afghanistan.

Four women, two children and a man died when their car hit a Taliban-planted improvised explosive device (IED) near the town of Mehtarlam, Sarhadi Zwak, the provincial administration spokesman, said in a statement.