Afghanistan: 10 civilians killed, 12 injured in two blast incidents

At least 10 civilians were killed in a roadside blast in Khost province on Tuesday morning, Pajhowk Afghan News reported.

In another incident, five traffic police personnel and 12 civilians suffered injuries in a blast in Mazar-i-sharif city of Balkh province.

No group has so far taken the responsibility of the attack.

Years of conflict in Afghanistan have left strewn with landmines, unexploded mortars, rockets and homemade bombs, and many are picked up by curious children.

Insurgents often use roadside bombs and landmines to target Afghan security forces, however, the lethal weapons also inflict heavy casualties on civilians.

On December 13, Ten civilians, including four women and a child, were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the volatile district of Jaghatu in Ghazni province.

On December 12, at least five people were killed in a landslide at a gold mine in the province of Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan, while 35 others went missing.

The blast occurred hours after the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said insurgent leaders had held "positive talks" with a US delegation in Doha, adding the two sides planned to restart talks after a few days.

(With inputs from agencies)