DHAKA: Seven schoolchildren were killed and three wounded by a roadside bomb in south-eastern Afghanistan on Monday, an official said.

The bomb was planted on the side of a main road in the Khairkot district of Paktika province, and exploded when the children stepped on it while playing.

‘This afternoon as a result of the mine explosion in Khairkot, seven children from one family lost their lives,’ provincial spokesman Mokhlis Afghan told media, reports The Straits Times.

He said they were aged 7-12 and were in elementary school. The injured children were taken to hospital.

BDST: 2012 HRS, NOV 18, 2013
RoR/JCK