Afghan girls killed in Nangarhar explosion

At least 10 young girls have been killed after an explosion in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, officials say.

The explosion occurred in the Charparhar district on Monday morning.

The girls, ranged between nine and 13 years of age, were gathering firewood outside the Dawlatzai village when the explosion took place, said Mohammad Seddiq, a local government administrator.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Seddiq said that two other girls were seriously wounded in the explosion and were in critical condition at a local hospital.

Police are scouring the area for clues as to what type of explosive went off, Seddiq said.

Kabul explosion

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the capital Kabul, a suicide bomber in a small truck detonated outside the entrance to a logistics company, killing at least two people and injuring 15 others, the interior ministry said.

Both of those killed were Afghan civilians, the ministry said. The injured included 13 Afghans and two foreign nationals.

The blast occurred in the Jalalabad Road area, where a number of foreign companies have offices.

Daoud Amini, the deputy police chief for Kabul, said the compound was used by Contrack, a Virginia-based company whose projects include fuel storage, air field construction and tanker facilities.

Large sections of the compound’s exterior wall were blown apart and the roof of a building had collapsed. Twisted metal
from shipping containers that had been ripped open by the explosion littered the ground.

Baryalai, a security officer for the company, said the arm of the company that was attacked is building barracks and other facilities for the Afghan army

“There was massive destruction inside … I was sitting behind my computer when it happened. I was not hurt but I saw many of my colleagues were injured,” Bashir Farhang, an employee, said of the blast.

In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

“A suicide car bomber attacked an important American company which is involved in security,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, said in a statement. “The company was under our surveillance for a long time and today we succeeded.”