Roadside bombs kill 3 boys in Afghanistan

Afghan officials say roadside bombings in the restive south and west have killed three boys.

One of today's attacks took place in western Farah province, where two boys died.

A provincial governor's spokesman, Abdul Rahman Zhawandai, said a bomb exploded outside a school just as the boys came out. That explosion also wounded three students.

The third boy was killed in the southern Uruzgan province, a Taliban stronghold. Police spokesman Farid Ayal said the teenager was returning home on his bicycle when the explosion occurred.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but Taliban militants routinely use roadside bombings to target Afghan security forces, though such bombs also often kill civilians.
 

Security has been stepped up across Afghanistan as Shiites prepared to mark the Ashoura, a key religious occasion.