Two Afghan children, two women killed in blast

KHOST, Afghanistan, Jan 7 (Reuters) A remote-control roadside bomb killed two Afghan children and two women travelling in a vehicle near the border with Pakistan today, police said.

Police blamed militants fighting the government for the attack on the family in the eastern province of Khost.

''This was the work of Taliban and al Qaeda. They're trying to destabilise the security situation,'' said police officer Wazir Mohammad.

Two men in the vehicle were wounded, he said.

Last year was the bloodiest the country has seen since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. Violence has eased in recent weeks because of winter but intermittent attacks still occur in the south and east.

A NATO soldier was wounded in a blast in the southern province of Kandahar yesterday. The previous day, five NATO soldiers were wounded in a suicide car-bomb attack on a NATO outpost in the southeastern province of Paktika, the force said.

Reuters SSC GC1220