Kandahar: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province on Sunday, an official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly blows to Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces and yet again underlined spiralling insecurity in the war-torn nation.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.

The deadly assault came days after a Taliban suicide bomber killed five civilians and wounded dozens of others, mainly children, when he detonated a car filled with explosives at a police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital.

That attack was the insurgents' first major one since US President Donald Trump announced he was committing American troops to Afghanistan indefinitely.

The resurgent Taliban are at the peak of their summer fighting season and have been ramping up their campaign against government forces. Afghan police and troops — beset by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payroll — have been struggling to beat back the insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014.

Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 percent in 2016, with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to US watchdog SIGAR.

More than 2,500 Afghan police and troops were killed from 1 January to 8 May.

Ordinary Afghans have also paid a heavy price for the 16 -year US-led war.

Civilian deaths are at their worst since records began in 2009. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations.

Analysts have warned that Trump's commitment to sending thousands more American troops to Afghanistan — reversing earlier pledges to pull out — could fuel the insurgency and lead to more casualties.

The Taliban had called for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and, following Trump's announcement, vowed to make the country a "graveyard" for US forces.</s>KANDAHAR: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor told.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.</s>The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.

The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians, the source said. (Photo: Representational/AFP)

Kandahar: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province on Sunday, an official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly blows to Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces and yet again underlined spiralling insecurity in the war-torn nation. "A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded. A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added. "The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. The deadly assault came days after a Taliban suicide bomber killed five civilians and wounded dozens of others, mainly children, when he detonated a car filled with explosives at a police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital.

That attack was the insurgents' first major one since US President Donald Trump announced he was committing American troops to Afghanistan indefinitely. The resurgent Taliban are at the peak of their summer fighting season and have been ramping up their campaign against government forces.

Afghan police and troops beset by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payroll have been struggling to beat back the insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014.

Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 percent in 2016, with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to US watchdog SIGAR. More than 2,500 Afghan police and troops were killed from January 1 to May 8. Ordinary Afghans have also paid a heavy price for the 16 -year US-led war. Civilian deaths are at their worst since records began in 2009.

In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations. Analysts have warned that Trump's commitment to sending thousands more American troops to Afghanistan reversing earlier pledges to pull out could fuel the insurgency and lead to more casualties.

The Taliban had called for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and, following Trump's announcement, vowed to make the country a "graveyard" for US forces.</s>KANDAHAR - A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.</s>KABUL (Reuters) - As many as 13 people, including both Afghan army soldiers and civilians, were killed and 18 wounded by a car bomb in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday, officials said.

Omar Zwak, the Helmand governor’s spokesman who gave the casualty figures, said the attack occurred in a market in Nawa, a district in the center of the province, which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks as government forces have battled for control with Taliban insurgents.

Afghan forces said they had retaken Nawa district in July but there has been continued fighting in the area since.

There was no claim of responsibility and no immediate comment from the Taliban, which has carried out regular suicide attacks in Helmand, where it controls much of the area outside the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

The hospital in Lashkar Gah run by the Italian aid group Emergency said it had received 3 dead and 19 wounded while Bost Hospital, another facility, said it had received 10 wounded.

It was unclear whether any of the wounded had died after being taken to the hospitals.

The attack comes just days after a suicide bomber in Lashkar Gah killed at least seven people and wounded 40 as the Taliban continued its push to restore strict Islamic rule to Afghanistan and drive out foreign forces backing the government in Kabul.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground steadily in Afghanistan since a NATO-led coalition ended its main combat mission in 2014.</s>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

“A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand,” Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead, while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

“The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians,” the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.</s>KABUL (Reuters) – As many as 13 people, including both Afghan army soldiers and civilians, were killed and 18 wounded by a car bomb in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday, officials said.</s>At least 13 people have been killed and several more injured in a Taliban bombing attack on a convoy of troops in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

“A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," said the spokesman for the provincial governor, Omar Zwak, on Sunday.

The spokesman noted that civilians and members of the military were among the dead and injured.

A local medical source claimed that 19 people had been injured in the blast.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," he added.

Following the incident, the Taliban claimed responsibility by directly sending messages to the media.

The attack comes just a few days after at least five people were killed and over two dozen wounded when a car bomb exploded at a police headquarters in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.

The blast took place in Lashkargah, Helmand’s provincial capital, on Wednesday, with the Taliban militant group claiming responsibility for the bombing.

Taliban militants have warned that they will be stepping up their attacks until the US forces fully withdraw from Afghanistan after more than a decade and half of occupation.

US President Donald Trump has resisted repeated requests by the Pentagon to approve the deployment of another 4,000-strong US force to Afghanistan, which the US military says is needed to boost the so-called counter-terrorism operations in the country.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and overthrew the Taliban regime. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and now Trump.</s>LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suspected car bomb on Monday killed at least 10 police amid increased Taliban attacks on the besieged capital of the southwestern Afghan province of Helmand, with the toll expected to rise, a security official said.

The blast, in the city of Lashkar Gah, killed 10 police officers, with at least 14 police and civilians wounded, said the official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

A hospital run by the Italian charity Emergency said it had received 30 casualties from the blast, including civilians and security forces.

Hospital officials expressed concern over worsening conditions in Lashkar Gah, with reports of increased Taliban attacks on the outskirts, and rockets landing inside the city.

Taliban militants, who have been fighting a 15-year insurgency to topple the Western-backed government and reimpose a radical Islamist regime, control or contest most of Helmand, the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting during the international military mission in Afghanistan.

On Saturday a high-level delegation of Afghan and international military officials visited Lashkar Gah, promising to do everything possible to prevent its collapse.

Afghan elders who met with the delegation, however, criticized government strategy in the province, as well as the performance of Afghan security forces, some of whom are accused of abandoning their posts.

The NATO-led coalition has stepped up the number of military advisers working with the Afghan forces in Helmand, while American troops have been given freer rein to use more air strikes in a bid to prevent a total collapse of Afghan defenses.
A car bomb in Helmand Province kills up to 13 people, including Afghan Army soldiers and civilians, and wounds 18 others, according to government spokesman Omar Zwak.