Official: Bomb hits Afghan minibus, killing 14

KABUL, Afghanistan: A roadside bomb destroyed a crowded minibus Thursday in western Afghanistan, killing 14 passengers who were all members of an extended family, a provincial official said.

Violence has been on the rise across much of Afghanistan, even as the White House released a generally positive review of its military strategy here.

Rafi Behrozan, the spokesman for the Herat governor, said four others were wounded in the powerful morning blast in the Kushk Kuhna district of Herat province. Two additional bombs were found nearby on the same road but were defused by Afghan policemen, he added.

“The explosion was very strong and the vehicle was destroyed. The majority of these aboard were killed,” Behrozan said.

The US government review released Thursday said that President Barack Obama’s expansion of the war in Afghanistan has eroded the power of the Al-Qaeda terrorists who attacked America in 2001 and the resurgent Taleban militants who gave them cover.

But the picture on the ground is more complicated.

There have been numerous successes with rounding up those seen as ringleaders, but violence and insecurity have also increased in areas outside of the Taleban heartland in the south.

The international Red Cross said Wednesday that it saw the country deteriorating into a much more violent state overall, with a proliferation of armed groups that made it difficult for the organization to get aid out.

Official: Bomb hits Afghan minibus, killing 14 - Arab News