Roadside Bomb Kills 8 Afghan Civilians

Eight civilians including a newly-wed groom were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan Saturday, the latest innocent victims to die despite a Taliban call to limit their deaths.

The victims, which also included a woman and a child, were killed in the eastern province of Laghman when their car was blown up as they returned home after the man's wedding party late Friday.

Laghman province is located towards the border with Pakistan. It has long been troubled by insurgents, particularly the Hezb-e-Islami faction led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

"The latest reports show that eight people including a woman, a child and a groom were killed in the blast," said Laghman provincial spokesman Faizanullah Patan.

"They had a wedding party last night and were going to their home" when the blast struck in the district of Alingar at around 10am (0530 GMT), he added.

The woman killed in the blast was not thought to have been the bride.

Afghan civilians have paid a high price in the decade-long war in their country.

The United Nations has said the number of civilians killed in the first half of this year rose 15 percent to 1,462, with insurgents responsible for 80 percent of the deaths.

Last week, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar issued a statement to mark Eid al-Adha calling on insurgents to reduce civilian casualties.

However, human rights group Amnesty International condemned the call as "hypocritical," saying it was "more about propaganda and less about actually protecting civilians."

Control of security in Laghman's provincial capital, Mehtar Lam, was handed from foreign to Afghan government forces in the first wave of transition in July.

The transition of security is due to take place gradually across the country and should eventually see all foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, although a sizeable mission will remain to train Afghan forces.

Another district in Laghman, Qarghayi, is expected to be among the second wave of transition locations.

President Hamid Karzai had been expected formally to announce these at a regional conference in Istanbul this month, but did not.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan Saturday, four policemen and two civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb which targeted a police vehicle in Herat city, western Afghanistan, local civil order police commander Essa Iftikhari said.