18 dead as Taliban bombs bus in new Helmand offensive

The Taliban intensified its new offensive in southern Helmand in Afghanistan today - killing 18 people by blowing up a minibus.

Deputy police chief Kamaluddin Sherzai said: "The mine was very powerful and destroyed the vehicle. They were all civilians. Some were children."

It was the second attack in two days by insurgents determined to weaken the government's grip on the Taliban's southern heartland.

Yesterday 19 people died when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a government building, starting a shoot-out between militants and Afghan forces.

The attacks are the latest in an increased Taliban offensive which has already claimed the lives of three top government officials, including Kandahar mayor Ghulam Haider Hamidi.

Police who responded to today's explosion in the province's Nahri Sarraj district came under fire from insurgents. In a separate attack, Mr Sherzai said three Afghan policemen died in a fight with insurgents last night in Helmand's Gereshk district.

Violence has been on the rise as the Taliban try to regain territory lost in the autumn and winter to the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan.

Suicide attacks and other bombings have intensified as militants try to undermine confidence in the Afghan government's ability to provide security while US and other coalition combat forces start to withdraw. In its mid-year report, the United Nations said the number of Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence rose by 15 per cent in the first half of the year.

President Hamid Karzai condemned yesterday's attack in Uruzgan, saying "terrorists" were trying to disrupt efforts for Afghan forces to take charge of security across the nation by the end of 2014 when international forces are to end their combat mission.

US Air Force Capt Justin Brockhoff said Afghan security forces responded to the attacks and Nato forces provided air support in fighting yesterday.