A bomb rigged to a rickshaw has killed at least 15 children and wounded 20 others in a Taliban-controlled area in eastern Afghanistan, a provincial official said, as violence in the war-weary country continued to surge, The Guardian reports.
The bomb exploded after a man driving a motorised rickshaw entered a village in the Gilan district to sell goods and was soon surrounded by children, according to Wahidullah Jumazada, a spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor. He said the casualty toll could rise further.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Jumazada said an investigation was under way into why children were targeted.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, sent a message to the media claiming that the explosion was caused by the remains of unexploded ordinance in the area that the children had allegedly picked up and brought to the merchant. Mujahid gave a lower death toll, saying 12 children were killed.
The conflicting reports could not be reconciled as the area is under Taliban control and off limits to reporters.
