25 March,2009 05:43 PM IST | | AP
A roadside bomb ripped through a van carrying civilians on a road used by foreign troops in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 10 and wounding six, officials said.
In the south, three Australian soldiers were wounded in another blast.
The attacks are a reminder of the dangers facing Afghan and foreign forces as thousands of new US troops roll into the country to try to reverse the Taliban gains of the last three years.
They also came a few days before President Barack Obama unveils his plan to tackle the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, which is battling an Islamic insurgency of its own.
The explosion that killed the civilians happened in Sabari district of the eastern Khost province while the van was on a road also used by foreign and Afghan troops, said Police Chief Abdul Qajum Bakizoy.
He blamed Taliban militants for planting the bomb. The blast killed seven instantly, while three others died later of their wounds in the hospital, said Wazir Pacha, the police spokesman.
The Taliban and other insurgent groups regularly use roadside bombs in their attacks against Afghan and foreign troops, but the majority of the victims in such attacks have been civilian.
