Roadside bomb leaves five people dead in northern Afghanistan

At least five people have been killed and more than two dozen others wounded in a bomb explosion that struck their vehicle in Afghanistan’s northern province of Faryab.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a vehicle was traveling along a road in the Andkhoy district of the province, located 454 kilometers (282 miles) north of the capital, Kabul, on Monday.

The vehicle touched off an improvised explosive device (IED), and the explosion killed at least five people and injured 25 others.

The officials added that the deceased were three civilians and two army soldiers. A military commander was also among the injured.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, such incidents are usually blamed on Taliban militants, who make frequent uses of IEDs.

Meanwhile, Afghan forces have killed more than 50 Taliban militants and arrested nearly two dozen others during various clean-up operations across the war-wracked country over the past 24 hours.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday that 90 militants were killed and 106 others wounded in a series of operations carried out in the provinces of Daykundi, Ghazni, Kandahar, Kapisa, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Uruzgan and Zabul.

The statement added that four Taliban members were also arrested during the offensives, while five Afghan soldiers lost their lives.

Afghan soldiers also confiscated light and heavy weaponry and defused several rounds of IEDs.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.

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