Roadside bomb kills 6 civilians in central Afghanistan

Roadside bomb kills 6 civilians in Afghanistan

KABUL — A remote-controlled bomb killed six Afghan civilians Saturday as they traveled in a central province, an official said.

Insurgents detonated the explosives planted in a road as the civilians’ vehicle passed by in Tirin Kot, capital of central Uruzgan province, according to Zemarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

One other civilian was wounded in the early morning blast, he said.

Roadside bombs are a favorite weapon of insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed government elected after the 2001 invasion that drove the hard-line Taliban from power.

While a leading killer of international troops in Afghanistan, the homemade explosives planted by insurgents often kill civilians.

Nearly 70 percent of civilian deaths last year were caused by insurgents. At least 2,412 civilians were killed in 2009 — a 14 percent increase from 2008 — according to the United Nations.