GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- About five police personnel were killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghan province of Paktia while 23 civilians wounded in the neighboring Kunar province following an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion, authorities said on Sunday.
"A police van was traveling from Zurmat district towards provincial capital Gardez city in the morning. The vehicle ran over a roadside bombing along the road and the blast killed five policemen aboard the van," provincial police chief Zulmai Uryakhel told Xinhua.
The police vehicle was destroyed by the blast in the province, some 100 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul.
In eastern Kunar province, a total of 23 civilians sustained injuries after an IED went off at the middle of a local bazaar in provincial capital Asadabad city, 185 km east of Kabul, according to a provincial medical source.
"The explosion occurred at around midday. The injured were shifted to hospitals where at least eight of them remained in critical condition," Assadullah Fazli told Xinhua.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the incidents, local officials blamed the Taliban militant group for the attacks.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since mid-April when the militant group launched annual rebel offensive against Afghan security forces.
