Two children killed in Afghan blast

Two children were killed in an explosion which tore through a group of civilians and US soldiers visiting a road construction project, a spokesman for the governor of an eastern Afghanistan province said today.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said about 15 other people, including three soldiers, were wounded in the blast in the Rodat district of Nangrahar province.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force said it did not have immediate details about the explosion.

Civilian deaths, especially children, are an increasingly sensitive issue in the Afghanistan conflict.

The independent human rights group Afghanistan Rights Monitor said today that more than 1,050 children under 18 died last year in war-related incidents.