Kabul:
A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan has killed 12 civilians.
Police chief Bismullah Khan says a civilian bus was blown up in Kandahar province's Maiwand district on Tuesday morning, killing 12 civilians and wounding another 15. He says some of the more seriously wounded civilians were taken to a NATO base for treatment.
Militants are planting more roadside bombs than ever as they battle US and NATO troops. But the bombs kill far more Afghan civilians than soldiers.
A UN report issued on Saturday said August was the deadliest month of the year for civilians because of violence from the insurgency. A total of 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from January through August, up from 1,145 for the same period of 2008.