Afghan bomb kills 21 wedding guests: govt

A roadside bomb killed 21 Afghans heading to a wedding, the latest in a wave of violent attacks ahead of key elections, as the NATO chief Thursday assessed efforts to quell the insurgency.

A US soldier, five Afghan policemen and two truck drivers were also killed in a series of extremist strikes, which have raised fears that violence will mar voting in Afghanistan and damage the credibility of the August 20 polls.

A trailer packed with guests invited to a wedding and towed by a farm tractor — a common mode of transport in rural Afghanistan — was hit Wednesday in the southern province of Helmand, government officials said.

“A tractor vehicle full of civilians was going to a wedding party in Garmsir district of Helmand province,” interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. Helmand is one of the most notorious bastions of Taliban violence.

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