Roadside Bomb Kills 12 Civilians In Afghanistan's Paktika Province

An official in southeastern Afghanistan said today that 12 civilians were killed when the car they were traveling in was hit by a roadside bomb.

Mohebullah Sameem, the governor of Afghanistan's volatile Paktika Province, said the passengers had crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan when their car was struck by the bomb.

Sameem said women and children were among those killed.

The incident comes as Afghans in the capital, Kabul, are protesting the recent deaths of nine children in a NATO air strike near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Civilian deaths have become an increasingly sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where 140,000 U.S.-led troops continue to battle the Taliban and other insurgents.

compiled from agency reports