Roadside bomb killed nine in eastern Afghanistan, says official

A roadside bomb killed nine people in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, after it struck a minivan full of civilians, a local official said.

Ghazni province police spokesman Ahmad Khan Sirat said that a second roadside bomb killed two policemen after it struck their vehicle that was making its way to the victims of the first explosion.

Sirat added that the bombings had wounded several others and that the attacks were under investigation.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. The provincial police spokesman claimed the Taliban had placed the bomb.

The upsurge in violence between Taliban and Afghan forces comes as representatives of the two warring sides are beginning peace talks in Doha to end the decades-long war in Afghanistan.