Bus bombing kills four in southern Afghanistan

A bomb ripped through a small bus today in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, killing four people and wounding eight others, provincial Deputy Governor Haji Pir Mohammed said.

The explosion occurred in Nadh Ali district, about 20 miles south-east of Lashkargah, Helmand’s capital, Mohammed said.

No one claimed responsibility, and no arrests were made. But Mohammed blamed al-Qaida insurgents and remnants of the Taliban militia, ousted by a US-led coalition in late 2001. “They are killing innocent people,” he said.

Three of the injured were said to be in a serious condition.

The number of people in the Lashkargah-bound bus was not immediately known.

Small vans, which can carry about 12 passengers, are a common form of transport between cities and rural areas.