<p>KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Officials in southern Kandahar province say civilian casualties <a href="/en/taliban" class="glossify-link">Taliban</a>-planted landmines have recently surged.</p>
<p>According to information, at least 30 civilians were killed and wounded in roadside bombings in the province last month.</p>
<p>Civilian casualties increased after the militants closed Kandahar-Arghistan, Kandahar-Maroof and Kandahar-Uruzgan highways and barred people from travelling on the routes.</p>
<p>Musa Jan, a passenger who traveled to Kandahar from Uruzgan through long and difficult routes, blamed the Taliban for warning drivers and people against travelling on the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway.</p>
<p>He told Pajhwok that passengers had been forced to travel on alternative routes and many of them were harmed by landmine blasts.</p>
<p>According to Jan, at least three passengers were killed as a result of a roadside bomb blast in Shah Wali Kot district two days ago.</p>
<p>He hit out at the security forces for behaving like the Taliban. He said people wondered what to do in this situation.</p>
<p>Dad Mohammad, a worker of Red Cross, said he was evacuating an injured person to hospital but he disallowed to travel on the highway.</p>
<p>He told Pajhwok hundreds of passengers, including <a href="/en/women" class="glossify-link">women</a>, children, the elderly and patients, were waiting in warm weather for the reopening of the highway. Other passengers held similar views.</p>
<p>Police spokesman Jamal Nasir Barakzai said the Taliban had intensified highway closures and planting landmines that resulted in civilian casualties.</p>
<p>He said 18 civilians had been killed and seven others wounded after the Eid holydays.</p>
<p>Baheer Ahmadi, the governor’s spokesman, confirmed civilian casualties had surged due to landmine blasts on district roads. He accused the Taliban of planting the bombs.</p>
<p>Ahmadi, however, insisted the security forces remained committed to people’s safety and put in all possible efforts to ensure public security.</p>
<p>Pajhwok tried to contact the Taliban for comment but failed.</p>
<p>sa/mud</p>
