Roadside bombing kills 17 in western Afghanistan

Up to 17 people, including 12 women and four children, were killed Tuesday when a vehicle was struck by roadside bombing in the western Afghan province of Herat, officials said. "One vehicle touched off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in a village of Obe district Tuesday afternoon in Herat. The powerful explosion killed 12 women, four children and one man on the spot," the district's police chief Shir Agha told Xinhua. He said eight other people were seriously wounded in the attack. He blamed Taliban insurgents for planting the IED in the area. One official said the victims were members of Taliban families. IEDs used in making suicide vests and roadside bombs have proved a challenge for Afghan and NATO-led forces in the insurgency-hit country, as they are simple but difficult to be detected. The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group launched annual rebel offensive in April this year. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, recently said that the Taliban will step up attacks on Afghan and foreign security forces and other targets through the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, a total of 2,500 Afghans were killed or wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in from Jan. 1 to mid-June this year