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Subscribe to RSSKABUL, Afghanistan - A roadside mine killed 19 civilians, including children, and injured another five when it exploded in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday, the provincial government told Reuters.
The strike on the minibus came a day after at least 59 people were killed in sectarian attacks in three cities across the country, and refocused attention on the fragile Afghan security situation.
The vehicle was driving on a road in Helmand province's volatile Sangin district — a Taliban stronghold — when it hit the bomb, said Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand government, according to The Associated Press.
After Tuesday's attacks, the largest of which targeted a Shiite Muslim shrine in the capital Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai cancelled a planned visit to Britain to return straight home, wiping out any residual optimism from an international conference about the future of Afghanistan, held on Monday in Germany.
At least five children were among the dead in the Helmand attack, Ahmadi said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack — a common situation when bombs kill civilians.
On Tuesday, twin bombings on Shiite Muslims celebrating the holiday of Ashoura sparked fears that attacks in Afghanistan might be taking on a sectarian dimension for the first time. Ashoura honors the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 A.D.
A suicide bomber slaughtered dozens of Shiite worshippers and wounded more than 160 others Tuesday outside a Kabul shrine where hundreds had gathered to worship.
One U.S. citizen was also among the dead, according to a statement issued by the American embassy in Kabul. The deceased was not a government employee, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Megan Ellis said, but declined to give further details.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), responsible for security across much of the country, says it is winning the war against the Taliban.
But if Tuesday's bombing sets a precedent for violence between the Sunni Muslim majority and the Shiite minority, it would severely stretch army and police resources.
At a funeral ceremony on Wednesday for victims of the attack, hundreds of Shiite Muslims bore aloft the bodies of the dead, chanting that because they had been killed at a Muslim ceremony, they had died in the name of the Prophet Muhammad.
"We were sacrificed for you," they shouted. "Where is the government, where are the members of parliament? Why they don't join our mourning? It creates a gap between people and the government," said Muhammad, 40 years old, who said one his relatives died in the Kabul blast.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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This is getting disgusting,so many millions brainwashed into a murderous cult. Can we just leave this place it is not fit for civilized people,I am sick of my American people getting caught up in this religous slaughterhouse. Bring my people home Obama!
I agree with you.
One can not win a religious war , especially if you are not of that faith . It is also a gorilla war with no front lines and no one wears a uniform . It's best we get out A S A P .
bob
"Peaceful" people go about their everyday "peacefull" business. Nothing unusual after all, this is a region of '"religion of Peace".
BTW, yesterday I saw on Euronews pictures of this religious festival of theirs. Mighty bloody also.
I would like nothing better to get out and forget about them to. But the 'what if' of doing that is just to much of a risk. The what if we do and each year more and more become 'brainwashed'. Do you really think they will have changed their ideals of killing all non-muslims the stronger they get?
We had for decades left them alone. Even when they killed Americans. I guess, at an acceptible rate or one our government felt was not worth military action! And look at our reward for our passive attitude. You can blame our foreign 'israeli policy' all you want for their targeting us. But the fact remains our foreign policy has only moved us to the top of their list of infidels to kill. Our passive attitude embolden them and more and more groups flourished while we or because we took a no military response attitude.
So just because we all wish to just bring our troops home and end any conflict with them it takes both parties to feel the same. Unfortunetly diplomacy has never worked because their cause as they see it is guided by their God. That is why we must stay and end them or end the 'brain washing' if the world has any chance of changing the direction these fanatics wish to take it.
The only course of action left to us to limit US lose is to destroy them as quick and as hard as we can. But unfortunetly for us and good for them is we foolishly play by the politically corrects rules!
Itsn't it sad just to think that our troops wouldn't even be there if the Carter and Reagan administrations hadn't messed up big time back then!! Then Bush Sr. added all the fuel to the fire in his administration!
Read the history and know that these people who live over there may look like savages to you, but they mostly are simple people just trying to live,(not like the taliban). When another country comes into your house and tells you what to do and how to live and "accidentally" kills some or all of your family and then calls you a terrorist. What would you think of that person?? Would you fight against them or just leave it alone?
I am very proud of our soldiers, but yet the bad seeds are still there too!! Killing innocent people just for the power trip? What about the soldier who killed a young farm boy tending to his land? Just shot him without reason. You don't think these people are going to hate us?? Abu Ghraib.....insulting. If you had a family member who was there humiliated like that, would you stay quiet? Unfortunately, we have bred a new generation that hates us because of the "mistakes". We do need to bring our troops home! Thank Bush Jr.
It is so easy to say these people are killers and they don't deserve this and that, well I would have to say that a human being is a human being and should be respected as such. You can't pass judgement on someone because of what you see on the news. I am talking about the general public, not the sick demented people who have twisted a religion into a killing excuse.
Leave Now, not later. The longer we stay the more we lose for nothing. Osama is dead bring the troops home and let the barbarians kill each other for the next few millenniums. Secure our own boarders and don't let muslims come in.
Sounds great but don't we then become prisoners within our own country. Unable to leave because their out there just waiting for a chance to kill Americans.
So what do you suggest? That we stay in the middle east indefinitely while our country goes completely broke?
There are 3 options.
1-Leave and cut our losses.
2-Nuke the whole area into glass.
3-Stay there forever wasting our money and lives of our troops.
What is it gonna be? Also I'm not suggesting that we just leave them alone. We can still spy on them and bomb their terror camps with drones and stuff like that. Just get all the boots off the ground.
Things are getting back to normal.
What a wonderful religion Islam is, a religion of peace and so many Americans want to convert. These people have been fighting for centuries and they will fight the non belivers as well as their on selves till the end of time. This religion does not know what the word peace means, they are not happy unless you are giving them something or they are fighting with someone even if it is with their people, family, neighbors or relatives. What we should do is apply some of their justice and thinking to them, but we will not because we are better than that and that will be our down fall. And for those who lost famile and friends at the bombings do you really think Karazi or his government are going to show up at the funerals, they are too busy hiding and collecting money from other countries that giving it to them in hopes of improvements. There is an old saying that country "everybody pays" or bachschees. Remember in thier country the victim is punished and the criminal is rewarded.
It's just greedy-O-rama that we 1%ers don't share our technology with these poor backward people.
They are trying so hard to blow their country up! But with the meager, "so yesterday" homemade explosives they have, they are barely making a dent in the population.
If they want to kill each other, who are we to deny them their wishes? We obviously don't understand their complicated and superior religion.
Let's jump down off our high horse and help these people eradicate themselves. Surely it wouldn't be out of our skill-set to rig this country with REAL explosives and give each branch of Islam a detonator.
Of course, explosives aren't free. We need to legislate a national lottery to determine how long it will be before any or all of these factions push their plunger. My idea, I go first. I call 16 minutes and 43 seconds.
Anyone else have a guess?
At least the Taliban was able to control the country. The US has just made a mess of Afghanistan. Wonder how many Afghans would vote to have never had the U.S. intervene?
A lot less than the number of Americans who would vote the same. War profits to tempting for some.
We need to evacuate all the Children from the region and give these radicals some bigger bombs to play with...something with a little more "KABOOM!".
after seeing wates on bullliten board last 48 hours and seeing what on newes in afgan last 48 hours i would say relidgion is on the way out over pereiod of time we just keep it up shame themon a few things a % tages of them see the lite jugement day kill the rest-not matter if your a rattical relidgious ignorant islamic muslim or a local relidgious jesus creeper no substance to any relidgion-moses started this age he saysdown the roadhtings are going to be done on earth as in heaven with some hewmere he said your going to get to run like hell make sure you not run into your house to get your money or you will not make it -90 years ago spiritualist in england that goes into trance and secretary writes it down says that thers much pain before a new birth of a new age seems to be happening know and says the great spiritenot like it when some body else makes people pray fore something that the great spirite already created for his children-one of these days when every bodys hollering at once every things going to fall down if there any mess here who ever made the mess has to straiten it out nobody is coming down here to fix it maby you brain washed relidgious fantics still needa relidgion call it coyote no damed prayingno money envoled free just like a coyote in the bush minding his own bisness =coyote
The Koran states that Muslims do not kill Muslims, so why aren't the religious leaders speaking up and condemning these actions. A Muslim who kills a Muslim is not doing so in the name of Muhammad.
Americans need to get out now and keep taxpayers money home...and let them kill each over their demented devices. If these need to kill each other over greed, keep their people living in property and subject to degrading abuses, let them do so!
Well good, if they continue at this pace they will outdo the birth rate thereby reducing the population. See, they take care of themselves and don't need us there to blame.