10 injured in bicycle bomb blast in S. Afghanistan

Ten people were injured when a bicycle bomb went off Friday in Shahjoy district of Zabul province with Qalat as its capital, 340 km south of Afghan capital Kabul, the country's Interior Ministry said on Saturday."An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which was placed by enemies of peace and stability on a bicycle exploded in Shahjoy district of Zabul province at 11:00 a.m. local time Friday. As a result of the blast, 10 people were wounded including eight civilians," the ministry said in a statement.In an unrelated incident, Taliban insurgents opened fire on a vehicle in neighboring Kandahar province, killing a civilian and injuring his wife.A statement released by the Kandahar provincial government on Saturday said the incident occurred in Zhari district on Friday afternoon.However, the motive behind the attack was not cleared at the moment.The Taliban stepped up their attacks on Afghan and NATO-led troops since a rebel offensive was launched in May this year in the insurgency-hit country.