Maimana (Agencies): At least eight children were killed and six others wounded in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab, local police said Saturday.
The incident occurred in Koh-e-Sayyad village of Shirin Tagab district, north of provincial capital Maimana city on Friday evening.
According to provincial police spokesman Abdul Karim Yuresh, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but he blamed Taliban insurgents who usually plant roadside bombs to target Afghan security forces in different part of the province.
As per a hospital report, two of the wounded kids are in critical condition. All of the children are between 5 and 12 years of age and were playing when the bomb exploded, the police spokesman added.
Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) militants have been using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), targeting security forces, but the lethal home-made weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.
More than 1,690 civilians were killed and over 3,430 others injured in conflict-related incidents in the first half of the year in the war-torn country, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the country.
Out of the casualties, 363 children lost their lives while 992 children injured during the period.