Powerful roadside bomb kills 3 fruit farmers on the way to market in southeastern Afghanistan

Bomb kills 3 civilians in southeast Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — A government spokesman says a powerful roadside bomb has struck a civilian vehicle, killing three people in southeastern Afghanistan.

Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, spokesman for Zabul province’s governor, says the blast occurred Wednesday as the fruit farmers took their produce to market. He says the explosion in Mizan district completely destroyed the vehicle and killed all three people inside.

The nine-year war has inflicted a mounting toll on Afghan civilians. The United Nations says insurgents are responsible for most civilian deaths and injuries. However, noncombatants are also killed in NATO military operations.

A recent U.N. report said more than 1,200 Afghans died and nearly 2,000 were wounded between January and June this year.