KABUL: An eight-year-old Afghan girl was killed when insurgents detonated a bomb in a bag which they had given her to take to police nearby , the interior ministry said on Sunday. The incident happened in the southern province of Uruzgan on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.
“The enemies of peace and stability committed another unforgivable and shameful crime — an explosive-laden bag was handed to her and she was told to take it to police ,” the statement said. “The child, pure-hearted and in good faith, took the bag and moved towards the police vehicle . As she got close to the police vehicle, the enemy detonated the bomb by remote control, killing the innocent child.” No police or other civilians were killed, it added.
The ministry did not specify which insurgent group was responsible but the Taliban are the main militant group waging a near-decadelong insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul administration .
The attack happened on the same day 38 people were killed by a suicide car bombing at a hospital in Logar province, south of the capital Kabul.
There have been occasional cases of insurgents using female bombers — or more commonly of fighters dressing as women in head-to-toe burqa coverings — but the use of children had been almost unheard of until recently.
In May, Afghan police paraded four boys, all under 13, they said had been recruited as bombers from their homes in neighbouring Pakistan. One of the boys said they had been told they would live through the suicide attacks. The Taliban later denied they were recruiting children to carry out suicide attacks.
The latest incident comes as four Nato troops were killed over the past two days, including two Spanish soldiers who died on Sunday after a homemade bomb exploded in western Afghanistan. (Agencies)