10 civilians killed in Afghan bomb attack

Sharana (Afghanistan), Jan 7 (IANS) At least 10 civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded after a bomb ripped through a district bazaar in Afghanistan's Paktika province on Monday, officials said. "Ten martyred and 13 wounded civilians were admitted to a main hospital in the provincial capital Sharana city following a bomb attack in Jani Khil district," Mohammad Raffah, a provincial health official, told Xinhua news agency. Two children were among those killed. The blast occurred after an improvised explosive device was detonated at a bazaar in the district in the morning, a police official said. In a separate development, five police personnel and three Taliban militants were killed after militants stormed a security checkpoint along a main roadway in Faizabad district of Jawzjan province on Sunday night. The militants overran the checkpoint and took several rounds of guns and ammunition after the clash.
--IANS soni/