Suicide car bomb kills 15 in Afghanistan

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - At least 15 people were killed in a suicide car bombing aimed at the security forces' convoy in the restive southwestern Helmand province, an official confirmed on Monday.

The Afghan National Army (ANA) convoy was targeted in the province's volatile Nawa district late on Sunday. Umar Zwak, spokesman for the governor in Helmand, told Anadolu Agency the attack had claimed the lives of 13 members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and of two civilians.

"A suicide car bomber hit an armored vehicle of the army in the busy market place [...]", he said, adding 19 people were also injured in this attack.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Lying south to the Taliban’s birthplace Kandahar, Helmand remains one of the most insecure provinces with large-scale poppy cultivation and the Taliban controlling large swathes of land.

Last month, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) backed by U.S. air power managed to reclaim the restive Nawa district in Helmand over a year after the Taliban overran it. Since then, deadly clashes have erupted in various pockets of the province.