Roadside Bomb Kills at Least 12 Afghans on Their Way Home

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/world/asia/roadside-bomb-kills-at-least-12-afghans-on-their-way-home.html

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An Afghan family returning to their home after fleeing a possible military operation struck a roadside bomb on Saturday in southern Afghanistan, the authorities said.

The blast occurred in the Marja District of Helmand Province, largely a Taliban stronghold. At least 12 people died, said Nabil Jan Mullahkhail, the provincial police chief, and eight were wounded.

The family had fled the district after hearing that a government offensive might take place there, a relative, Mohammad Salih, said. Mr. Salih said he believed that as many as 21 of his relatives had been killed in the explosion.

No one immediately claimed responsibility. The Taliban routinely plant roadside bombs to target Afghan security forces, but the bombs often explode as civilians drive by, killing them instead.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented 10,548 civilian casualties in 2014, the most in a single year since 2009. The total includes 3,699 deaths, up 25 percent from 2013.

The United Nations said when it released the numbers in February that the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 72 percent of civilian casualties, and that government forces and foreign troops were responsible for 14 percent. The report attributed the rise in casualties to intensified ground fighting in which weapons like mortars, rockets and grenades are used in populated areas, sometimes indiscriminately.

American and NATO troops pulled back from volatile areas of Afghanistan last year, handing security responsibility over to Afghan forces and officially concluding their combat mission at the end of the year.