At least nine Afghan army soldiers were killed and a local commander injured as their vehicle hit a landmine in southwestern Afghanistan Saturday, Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. The AIP quoted Sayed Fazal Din, district commander-in-charge of Spin Baldak in Kandahar province, accusing government opponents of laying the landmine in the area, bordering Pakistan's Balochistan province. "We can right now confirm nine fatalities - all Afghan soldiers," the local official said, adding that a senior commander Qadar By also sustained injuries in the explosion. Din did not directly blame radical Taliban fighters for the loss of lives in the explosion but a militia spokesman Mufti Laifullah Hakimi claimed responsibility for the incident. "The Taliban laid the landmine in the area, which destroyed an Afghan military vehicle," Hakimi said.
