KABUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb struck an army van in southern Afghan Zabul province leaving two persons dead, both civilians, and injured nine others including seven civilians, police said Thursday.

    "The gruesome incident occurred Wednesday evening in Shahjoi district when device planted by militants hit a vehicle of Afghan soldiers killing two passersby and injuring nine others including two soldiers," Ghulam Jilani Khan deputy to provincial police chief told Xinhua.

    The two were killed in the blast were innocent civilians, he stressed.

    Taliban militants fighting Afghan and the NATO-led forces have adopted suicide and roadside bombings as new military tactic which often claim civilian lives.