<p>At least 15 Afghan civilians were killed and 18 wounded Friday while going to a wedding party when their vehicle was blown up in a roadside bombing in northern Balkh province, police said.<br /><br />"A minibus with about 33 civilians aboard was heading to take part in a wedding party in Sadir Abad village of Dawlat Abad district at about 10 a.m. Friday but the vehicle touched off a roadside bomb, sparking a powerful blast, killing 15 people and wounding 18," provincial police spokesman Shirjan Duran told Xinhua. <br /><br />Many women and children were among the killed and wounded, he added. <br /><br />Taliban militants, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have often attacked NATO-led forces with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) or roadside bombs but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians. </p>.<p>A total of 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,954 injured in conflicts in the first six months of 2012 in the insurgency-hit country, according to a UN report released in Kabul Aug 8. <br /><br />The IED explosions and the suicide bombings alone accounted for more than 50 percent of all civilian deaths, according to the report. <br /><br />It attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to attacks by Taliban insurgents and other armed groups opposing the Afghan government, another 10 percent of the deaths to Afghan and NATO-led forces, and 10 percent were unattributed in the first six months this year.<br /></p>
<p>At least 15 Afghan civilians were killed and 18 wounded Friday while going to a wedding party when their vehicle was blown up in a roadside bombing in northern Balkh province, police said.<br /><br />"A minibus with about 33 civilians aboard was heading to take part in a wedding party in Sadir Abad village of Dawlat Abad district at about 10 a.m. Friday but the vehicle touched off a roadside bomb, sparking a powerful blast, killing 15 people and wounding 18," provincial police spokesman Shirjan Duran told Xinhua. <br /><br />Many women and children were among the killed and wounded, he added. <br /><br />Taliban militants, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have often attacked NATO-led forces with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) or roadside bombs but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians. </p>.<p>A total of 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,954 injured in conflicts in the first six months of 2012 in the insurgency-hit country, according to a UN report released in Kabul Aug 8. <br /><br />The IED explosions and the suicide bombings alone accounted for more than 50 percent of all civilian deaths, according to the report. <br /><br />It attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to attacks by Taliban insurgents and other armed groups opposing the Afghan government, another 10 percent of the deaths to Afghan and NATO-led forces, and 10 percent were unattributed in the first six months this year.<br /></p>