11 kids killed in Afghan suicide bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)

A station wagon packed with Afghan civilians struck a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan, triggering an explosion that killed 16 people, 11 of them children, Afghan officials said.

The vehicle was traveling in Herat province's Shindand district when it hit the bomb, said Mohammad Salim, the police garrison chief for the district. Another four people in the car were wounded, he said.

Those in the car were part of the same extended family, Salim said. He did not provide further details. Provincial spokesman Muhiuddin Noori confirmed the casualty figures.

Civilians have been the overwhelming victims of the rise in violence in Afghanistan this year. While civilian deaths attributed to NATO forces have decreased, an increase in roadside bombs and insurgent attacks means that the overall number of civilians dying has increased.

The blast in Herat happened on the same day that a suicide bomber in the south of the country rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a police truck, killing two civilians.

The attacker in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, the main city in Helmand province, apparently was waiting in the car at the gates of the police headquarters just outside a bakery where officers regularly buy bread in the morning, said the deputy provincial police chief, Kamaluddin Sherzai. The bomber then slammed into a police truck that was parked at the shop, triggering the bomb, he said.