KABUL, Afghanistan, March 6 (UPI) -- A landmine blast in southeastern Afghanistan killed 12 civilians riding in a bus Sunday, provincial authorities in Paktika said.
Provincial spokesman Mukhlis Afghan told CNN seven women and children were among the dead. He said five other passengers were injured by the explosion.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was quick to issue a statement condemning the bombing as "against all principles of Islam," the BBC said.
The ambush was on a highway near the border with Pakistan, where Western intelligence officials allege the fundamentalist Taliban militant sect stages attacks in Afghanistan.
Mines and roadside bombs in the country are traditionally set to target military convoys, but there was no indication from NATO forces any of its personnel were due to travel that route.
