10 Afghan children killed in bomb explosion in eastern province

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Up to 10 Afghan children were killed and two were wounded when a bomb went off in Nangarhar province 120 km east of capital city of Kabul on Monday morning, police said.

"The innocent children were collecting firewood in Salozai area of Chaparhar district at around 9 a.m. local time when one of them step on a bomb triggering a powerful blast leaving the casualties, " police spokesman in the province Hazrat Housain Mashriqiwal told Xinhua.

He said all the killed children were girls aged from eight to 12 years, adding the injured including a boy were in critical condition.

The police official blamed Taliban insurgents for planting the bomb in the area to target the security forces.

Taliban militants, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have often attacked the Afghan force and the round 100,000 NATO-led force with roadside bombs but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

The Taliban has yet to make comments.

A total of 967 Afghan civilians, including 355 children, were killed and 1,590 injured in conflicts from August 1 to October 31 in insurgency-hit country, according to a UN quarterly report released on Friday.