Afghan Suicide Attack 'Kills 12 Schoolchildren'
July 10, 2007 -- Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says 17 people, including 12 schoolchildren, have been killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan.
Local police in the province of Oruzgan said 30 other people were wounded when the bomber blew himself up near a NATO-led convoy in a market place in Deh Rawud.
The NATO-led force, however, says six people were killed in the blast, while the Dutch Defense Ministry announced that seven of its troops were injured in the attack.
NATO spokesman Major John Thomas accused the attackers of showing no concern for the safety of civilians:
"This [bombing] was during the day when people were shopping, it was near a school, and the number of children who were injured or killed -- that number may rise as we find out more about this," Thomas said.
A purported spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.
Less than a month ago, a bomb exploded on board a police bus in the capital, Kabul, killing 35 police and civilians.
(AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)
A U.S. military vehicle damaged by insurgents near Kandahar (epa)
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