Suicide bomb kills 6 schoolchildren in Afghanistan

Kabul, Nov 24: A suicide bomb on the outskirtsof the Afghan capital Kabul today killed six schoolchildren and wounded three Italians working on an aid project building a bridge, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

''It was a suicide bomber ... six schoolchildren coming out from school were killed,'' said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary.

A senior police official also said the Italians were civilians and not connected with the military.

''The Italians were working on a bridge and many people gathered at the site when a suicide bomber blew himself up killing six people and wounding nine others,'' Ali Shah Paktiawal, the head of criminal investigation of Kabul police, told Reuters.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said he was aware of an incident in the capital involving ISAF forces, but could not provide any further details.

The hardline Islamist Taliban have killed at least 200 civilians in more than 140 suicide attacks so far this year in their campaign to oust the pro-Western Afghan government and eject the more than 50,000 foreign troops from the country.

Reuters
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