10 civilians killed in Afghan bomb attack

At least 10 civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded after a bomb ripped through a district bazaar in Afghanistan's Paktika province on Monday, officials said.

"Ten martyred and 13 wounded civilians were admitted to a main hospital in the provincial capital Sharana city following a bomb attack in Jani Khil district," Mohammad Raffah, a provincial health official, told Xinhua news agency.

Two children were among those killed.

The blast occurred after an improvised explosive device was detonated at a bazaar in the district in the morning, a police official said.

In a separate development, five police personnel and three Taliban militants were killed after militants stormed a security checkpoint along a main roadway in Faizabad district of Jawzjan province on Sunday night.

The militants overran the checkpoint and took several rounds of guns and ammunition after the clash.

--IANS

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