Roadside bomb kills 18 on way to Afghan wedding

GlobalPost

A roadside bomb in east Afghanistan on Sunday killed 18 people on their way to a wedding in a minibus.

"They were going to attend a wedding party when their minibus was hit by a roadside bomb... which killed 18 mostly females, including children," said the Ghazni province governor's spokesman, Shafiq Nang Safai.

Deputy provincial police chief Col. Asadullah Ensafi said the explosion killed 14 women, three men and a child.

More from GlobalPost: Afghanistan: Roadside bomb in Kandahar kills 10

Five women were also wounded in the blast, with two in critical condition.

While Afghan civilians are often hit by roadside bombs set up by the Taliban to target security forces and officials, the militant group denied responsibility for Sunday's attack.

Andar, where the bombing occurred, is one of the few Ghazni districts where the Taliban retain some control, and roadside bombs are its weapon of choice.

According to the UN, 1,319 civilians were killed and 2,533 were wounded in the first six months of this year, the majority because of roadside bombs.

Earlier on Sunday, another bomb that appeared to be targeting a group of soldiers killed a civilian in a Kabul market.

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