Afghanistan Explosion Kills 15 Children

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – An explosion rocked a religious gathering in eastern Afghanistan, killing 15 children and injuring some 20 people, police and officials confirmed.

It was unclear who or what caused the blast in the province of Ghazni. Police spokesman Ahmad Khan accused the Taliban of carrying out an attack. But the Islamist militant group claimed the explosion was “accidental.”

“Unfortunately, as a result of this incident, 15 people, all children, were martyred,” stressed Wahedullah Jumazada, spokesman for the governor of Ghazni Province.

Officials said the bomb went off around 14:00 local time near a house in a village where a Koran recital ceremony was underway.

The explosion happened after a man driving a motorized rickshaw entered the village and was surrounded by children, officials said. Residents told media that a piece of unexploded ordnance blew up when children tried to sell it to a vendor.

It follows several killings by small, magnetic bombs placed under vehicles blamed on Taliban militants. At least 10 government officials and aides were reportedly killed by “sticky bombs” in recent weeks, mostly in the capital, Kabul.

Friday’s blast comes shortly after a female television anchor and her driver were shot dead by unknown men in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.

The December 10 attack happened when journalist Malalai Maiwand and her driver were on their way to work in Jalalabad city, the provincial governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said.

Maiwand worked as an anchor for the Enikass Radio and TV channel in the volatile province, channel head Zalmai Latifi said. She was also an activist who advocated for the rights of Afghan women and children.

The attacks underscored Western concerns about instability in the Islamic nation, where Christians are a tiny minority and face severe persecution along with others seen as disloyal to Islamic principles.

Latest Worthy News