5 dead, 19 injured in Lashkargah car bombing

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): At least five people were killed and 19 others wounded on Wednesday when a car bomb went off in the capital of southern Helmand province, an official said.

The blast in Lashkargah occurred at around 11am in front of the house of a former police chief for the Nawzad district, Abdullah Khan, Helmand deputy police chief Col. Haji Wais Amiri told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the dead included one policeman and four civilians. Some police officers also suffered injuries but most of the wounded were civilians, he said.

Abdullah Khan was also injured in the blast but his condition was stable, Amiri said, adding Khan had recently been removed as the Nawzad district police chief and was yet to be appointed in another district.

An official at the Emergency-run hospital in Lashkargah told Pajhwok Afghan News they had been delivered five dead bodies and 19 wounded people from the scene. He said the victims included police officers.

Eyewitnesses said the blast had damaged several nearby houses as well. A resident of the area, Raziq, said his minor daughter had been killed in the blast that damaged his house.

It is feared the death toll could climb. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

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