Roadside Bomb Kills 19 In Afghanistan

NPR | By Mark Memmott

Published December 7, 2011 at 8:10 AM EST

One day after dozens of people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks aimed at Shiites, there's been another deadly explosion in Afghanistan:

"A minibus struck a roadside bomb while driving in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, triggering an explosion that killed 19 Afghan civilians, officials said. The vehicle was driving on a road in Helmand province's volatile Sangin district — a Taliban stronghold — when it hit the bomb, said Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand government." (The Associated Press)

Ahmadi said at least five children were killed, the AP adds. Al-Jazeera quotes Mohammad Ismail, a local security force commander, as saying the other victims included seven women from the same family.

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott

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