Landmine blast claims 11 lives in Afghanistan

A roadside landmine claimed 11 lives of a family in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday.

The incident occurred in Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, where a passenger car hit the landmine that led to the death of all five women, an elderly man and five children traveling in it, the district chief Mohammad Naseer told Anadolu Agency.

The Taliban have not claimed the responsibility, but the provincial government has blamed the militant group for the attack.

Salim Saleh, spokesman for the governor in Logar, said it is the work of the Taliban to lay such landmines in a bid to target the government forces, but often civilians find themselves in the middle of the conflict.

In February this year, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report that the civilians again bore the brunt of violence in Afghanistan in 2016 that saw a large number of children among the 3,498 dead.

The report documented 11,418 conflict-related civilian casualties, including 3,498 people killed and 7,920 injured in 2016. Of these, 3,512 were children -- 923 dead and 2,589 injured -- up by 24 percent from the previous highest-ever recorded figure.

The conflict-related violence exacted a heavy toll on the country, with an overall deterioration in civilian protection and the highest-total civilian casualties recorded since 2009, when the UN mission began systematic documentation of casualties, it said.