Roadside bombs in Afghanistan have ripped through a van carrying women and children and have blown up farmers and a donkey, part of a new string of attacks on civilians that has outraged the government in Kabul.
The deadliest blast took place Saturday in the Shamulzayi district of Zabul province, when a bomb tore through a van, killing all 13 people on board. Officials said the 13 were all from one family and that the dead included four women and two children.
Local officials said the group was thought to be Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, four villagers were killed in neighboring Kandahar province Friday.
Two farmers were killed after their donkey stepped on a bomb. Two more civilians died when a second blast went off as they came to help.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday condemned the attacks, calling them " the work of people who do not want the nation to have a life without sadness.''
Civilians have frequently been targeted or killed by militants who have been waging an insurgency against foreign forces for nearly 10 years.
At least two other people died in separate attacks Saturday.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said gunmen shot and killed Mohammad Khan, a tribal leader, in the country's southern Helmand province.
NATO also said a service member was killed in a blast in the western region of the country. Italian officials later confirmed the death of one of their troops based in Farah province.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
