At least four Afghan policemen were killed and eight other people were injured in a suicide attack Friday morning in southern Helmand province, provincial police chief General Hussain Andiwal said, according to dpa. The attack occurred in the Bulan area of Lashkargah city, the capital of Helmand, Andiwal said. "Civilians are also among the injured people," he said. Another Afghan civilian driving a vehicle in an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) convoy died in an explosion in eastern Kunar province, officials said Friday. "The accident occurred when the fuel truck, the driver was driving exploded after it struck what is believed to have been an improvised explosive device," ISAF said in a statement. The truck was part of a convoy that was conducting a resupply mission in the Manogai District of eastern Kunar province. Meanwhile, the UN Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan said Friday that more than 600 Afghans lost their lives from landmines and explosives last year. Mine initiatives had cleared more than one billion square metres of land across Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, the group said. More than 350,000 anti-personnel mines, 19,000 anti-tank mines and millions of pieces of other explosive elements have been destroyed, it said in a statement. "Mines and explosives killed over six hundred Afghans last year, which is an average of 50 people every month," it said. "This figure is too high and we must all continue to work together to ensure that we reduce the number of people killed, injured and maimed by landmines in Afghanistan." Half of the victims of mines or unexploded ordinance are under the age of 18.
