Rickshaw bomb kills 15 kids in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL — A bomb rigged to a rickshaw killed at least 15 children and wounded 20 others in a Taliban-controlled area in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, a provincial official said, as violence in the war-weary country continued to surge.

The bomb went off after a man driving a motorized rickshaw entered a village in the Gilan district to sell goods and was soon surrounded by kids, according to Wahidullah Jumazada, spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor. He said the casualty toll could rise further.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Jumazada said an investigation was underway into why children were targeted.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent a message to the media claiming that the explosion was caused by the remains of unexploded ordinance in the area, which the children had allegedly picked up and brought to the merchant.