At least 29 killed as car bomb explodes outside bank in Afghanistan

[Mr.Karizmatic]

A car bomb exploded just outside a bank killing at least 29 and wounding dozens others in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province. Most of the killed where from police and army

 

 

A huge suicide car bombing struck Thursday outside a bank in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, targeting Afghan troops and government employees waiting to collect their salaries ahead of a major Muslim holiday and killing at least 29 people, officials said.

Hayatullah Hayat, the provincial governor in Helmand, said most of the casualties were civilians. The explosion near the Kabul Bank in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah also wounded at least 60 people, he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Helmand has been at the center of bitter battles between the Taliban and Afghan security forces, aided by NATO troops. The insurgents, believed to control nearly 80 percent of the province's countryside, have increasingly been pressing a push onto Lashkar Gah and its environs in efforts to take the city.

In recent weeks, the Taliban have overrun Helmand's key Sangin district, where both British and U.S. troops had fought for years to keep them at bay.

 

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/afghanistan-car-bomb-blast-lashkar-gah-helmand/1/984742.html