© APAfghan men offer funeral prayers near the bodies of 7 civilians killed, by a roadside bomb in the Alingar district of Laghman province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 03, 2013.
A roadside bomb blast on Sunday killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women, as they were heading to a wedding party in central Afghanistan, provincial officials said.
"A roadside bomb planted by the enemies of Afghanistan in Andar district of Ghazni province hit a civilian vehicle around 4:30pm," Mosa Khan Akbarzada, Ghazni provincial governor, told AFP.
"Unfortunately, we have 14 women, three men, and a child onboard martyred in this tragic incident," Akbarzada said.
Deputy provincial police chief Asadullah Insafi confirmed the attack and gave a similar account. He also said five women had been taken to hospital.
Roadside bombs have in the past been planted by Taliban militants to target Afghan security forces and NATO-led US troops.
Often they miss the targets, and civilians pay the price.
There was no immediate comment from the Taliban Sunday.
Ghazni is a volatile province in central Afghanistan.
Comment: The key aim of counter-insurgency is to make the enemy so hated by the local population that they will not get any support
from there. This has long been a deliberate strategy by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq.It is hoped that the government and the local people will then beg the US troops to stay and give the US troops immunity from any crimes that they commit while there.
From Suicide Bombings - A Favourite US Counter-Insurgency Tactic: