2 civilians, soldier killed in blasts in Afghanistan

Three people were killed while two others wounded in three explosions across Afghanistan on Wednesday, authorities said. In one attack, two male civilians were killed when a vehicle they were riding set off an improvised explosive device (IED) in Pusht Rod area of western Farah province early Tuesday morning, a provincial official told Xinhua. He blamed the Taliban insurgent group for the attack, adding that the tricycle vehicle was destroyed in the explosion. In eastern Nangarhar province, two civilians were wounded at around 9:30 a.m. local time as a sedan stepped on an IED in Behsoud district. The Taliban insurgent group has largely been using home-made IEDs to launch suicide attacks and roadside bombings against security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians. Elsewhere, a soldier was killed in similar attack on Tuesday, the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement earlier in the day. More than 2,900 civilians were killed and nearly 5,700 wounded in conflicts and Taliban-led attacks in the war-torn country last year, according to official figures.