Bombings across Afghanistan kill 20 people

Kabul, Nov 8: Roadside bombs and a suicide bomber killed 20 people in a spate of attacks across Afghanistan on Thursday.

The deaths came even as armed clashes between insurgents and Afghan security forces have decreased as the fighting season winds down with the advent of cooler weather in the mountainous nation.

In one of the attacks, 10 civilians, including a child and four men, died as their vehicle struck a land mine in southern Helmand province.

Seven other people in the group which was heading to a wedding were wounded in the blast, said Ismail Khan Hotak of the provincial security coordination center.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up amid a police patrol in the southern city of Kandahar, killing the three policemen and wounding two, said Ahmad Jawed Faisal, a provincial governor spokesman.

And five troops died when their convoy hit a land mine in eastern Laghman province, according to Sarhadi Zewak, also a governor spokesman.

Also earlier in the day, two boys were killed by a roadside bomb in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan.