4 Injured by Southern Afghan Explosion
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Four people were wounded Thursday morning in an explosion in Kandahar city, the provincial capital of southern Afghan province of Kandahar, sources said.
"One improvised bomb went off in Shahiddan Square at around 09: 15 am local time, injuring two civilians and two Afghan National Police personnel," a security source told Xinhua, adding some of the injured were said to be in critical condition.
Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures.
Initial investigation showed that it was a remote control blast, said the source.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group launched a rebel offensive against the Afghan government forces and NATO-led troops stationed in the country in mid-May.
In neighboring Helmand province, six militants were killed and one police wounded following a Taliban attack on security checkpoints in Gereshk district overnight, provincial police spokesman Abdul Ahad Chopan told Xinhua.
Furthermore, one foreign soldier of the NATO-led coalition forces was killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the coalition forces confirmed in a statement earlier on Thursday.
More than 51,000 coalition troops, down from the peak of 130, 000 in 2010, are stationed in Afghanistan, and the United States plans to trim its forces to less than 10,000 next year.
