Afghan officials: Roadside mines kill 3 children, 2 soldiers

KABUL – Afghan officials say that roadside mines have killed three children and two soldiers in two separate incidents in the country’s western province of Herat.

Hekmatullah Hekmat, a district governor in Herat, says both incidents took place on Tuesday.

The children were riding a motorcycle that struck the mine and blew up.

The acting governor in Herat, Juma Adil, says the two soldiers died trying to defuse the other mine. A third soldier was wounded in that explosion.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Afghanistan has the highest number in the world of victims of land mines, which along with roadside bombs kill or wound an estimated 140 people every month.