At least five killed by roadside bomb on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar
- 12 years ago
At least five people are killed and fifteen others wounded after a passenger bus hit a roadside bomb on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
The bus was ripped apart and all the windows shattered. Women and children died in the blast.
A wounded passenger says the bus driver was warned not to travel down the road.
(SOUNDBITE) (Dari) WOUNDED PASSENGER LYING ON HOSPITAL BED, MOHAMMAD ESSA, SAYING:
"American tanks were positioned at the top of the road and blocked the main road. Our driver got off the main road, when we reached around that area (where blast occurred) a man from one of the tanks signalled 'do not go ahead', but the bus driver did not listen and went on ahead."
The death of five civilians comes only months after the UN announced a 20 percent drop in civilian casualties in the first four months of the year.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
The bus was ripped apart and all the windows shattered. Women and children died in the blast.
A wounded passenger says the bus driver was warned not to travel down the road.
(SOUNDBITE) (Dari) WOUNDED PASSENGER LYING ON HOSPITAL BED, MOHAMMAD ESSA, SAYING:
"American tanks were positioned at the top of the road and blocked the main road. Our driver got off the main road, when we reached around that area (where blast occurred) a man from one of the tanks signalled 'do not go ahead', but the bus driver did not listen and went on ahead."
The death of five civilians comes only months after the UN announced a 20 percent drop in civilian casualties in the first four months of the year.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters