The U.N. has condemned the killing of 12 Afghans, including eight children returning from school, by a roadside bomb in the country’s volatile east, the latest in a growing number of civilian casualties.
The blast occurred in Paktika province Friday when their vehicle hit a pressure-plate improvised explosive device planted on a public road, the U.N. said, adding that four others were wounded.
“Children are once again the main victims of these indiscriminate and illegal weapons,” said Pernille Kardel, the U.N.’s deputy special representative in Afghanistan.
“There is a simple message to the perpetrators: stop using these weapons if you are serious about safeguarding Afghanistan’s civilians and the country’s future generation,” Kardel said in a statement late Saturday.
There was no immediate reaction from officials in Paktika.