Car bomb attack kills four civilians in southern Afghanistan
LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) — Four civilians were killed on late Thursday morning when a suicide car bomber targeted a British convoy in southern Afghanistan, officials said. Dozens more were injured.
The attack happened at around 10:40 a.m. local time in front of the Afghanistan Stabilisation Initiative (ASI) and Education Department offices in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. A convoy carrying civilian employees of the British Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was nearby.
Afghan officials said the attack left four civilians killed, including two ASI employees, a child and a passer-by. At least 34 others were also injured in the blast, including two foreigners whose nationality were not immediately released.
In addition to the casualties, more than a dozen vehicles were destroyed and nearby residences and offices were damaged, according to a provincial spokesman. The British Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) said it believes its convoy was the target of the attack.
“This reprehensible attack further illustrates that the Taliban and other insurgents have no respect for the lives of innocent Afghan civilians, especially women and children,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said. “The United States mourns the loss of life in Lashkar Gah, and our sympathies go to all the victims and their families. We remain a steadfast partner of the Afghan people against the scourge of international terrorism.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
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