KANDAHAR – Two roadside bombs in Afghanistan’s most violent province killed five revellers heading to a wedding and five policemen, officials said yesterday.
The first bomb struck a family heading to a wedding in a tractor on Wednesday in Helmand province’s Garmsir district, where a new force of US marines has been battling Taliban guerrillas since launching a major operation last month.
Earlier yesterday Afghan government sources had put the toll from the wedding attack at 21 dead. But officials later lowered the toll to five after investigating further, Helmand police chief Asadullah Sherzad said.
“Because of the remoteness of the area we did not have accurate information in the morning. The toll of five killed and five wounded is precise information and that comes from an investigation by our team,” he said.
The second bomb exploded near a police vehicle yesterday in Naad Ali district, also in Helmand, killing five policemen.
Violence has increased in the last weeks of campaigning for presidential elections on August 20th, which militants have threatened to disrupt. Thousands of US marines and British troops last month simultaneously launched the war’s two biggest operations in separate parts of Helmand to seize territory from Taliban fighters ahead of the election. – (Reuters)