KABUL, Afghanistan, May 1 (UPI) -- Six Afghans died in weekend violence, including four in a suicide bomb attack by a 12-year-old, as the Taliban claimed the start of its spring offensive.
Afghan authorities said the attack by the young boy Sunday killed four civilians and wounded 12 more in a shopping area in the Shakeen area in eastern Paktika province and came a day after the Taliban proclaimed the start of its spring offensive in which it promised not to harm civilians, the Voice of America reported quoting NATO.
Those killed in the attack included the the head of a district council.
The NATO called the bombing a "cowardly attack that shows the impotence of the Taliban."
The second incidence also occurred Sunday in adjacent Ghazni province. In that attack, the Los Angeles Times, quoting a police official, reported explosives tied to a bicycle was detonated, killing two police officers and wounding a bystander.
The New York Times said security remained tight in the capital, Kabul, with police, intelligence officers and soldiers guarding various intersections and inspecting all vehicles.
In the announcement about the spring offensive, a Taliban statement said all Afghans should "keep away from gatherings, convoys and centers of the enemy" so they will not be harmed, CNN reported.
NATO officials told CNN the violence is an effort by the insurgents to recoup their losses suffered in the new offensive by coalition forces.
The report said in the three months ended April, coalition special forces launched 1,393 operations, capturing or killing 468 insurgent commanders, and capturing or killing 2,637 lower-level insurgents.
Separately, NATO officials said they captured a Taliban leader and two of his associates in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported. One of those captured was an inmate, one of more than 400 inmates who had escaped last week from a large prison in the province.
