8 civilians killed in blast in E. Afghanistan

Eight civilians were killed Saturday in a roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan' s Laghman province, an official said."The blast occurred at about 10:00 a.m. local time in Mitram district, an area outside the provincial capital Mehtarlam city, when a civilian car was traveling along a road to Mehtarlam city," a spokesman of the provincial government, Saydanullah Patan told Xinhua. Patan said all victims aboard the vehicle, including a woman and a child, were killed on the spot in the powerful blast in the province some 90 km east of capital city of Kabul. No one has claimed responsibilities for the incident so far. The Taliban militants as part of tactic have resorted to suicide attacks and roadside bombings which often claim civilians. A total of 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in the first half of 2011, a 15 percent rise over the same period of 2010, according to the United Nations mid-year report released in Kabul on July.