A roadside bomb in the Marjah district of Afghanistan has killed eight civilians, leaving their bodies unidentifiable.
The governor’s office in Helmand province described the explosion which occurred after the bomb struck the vehicles of the victims, as massive.
The U.N. says last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs.
Meanwhile, the U.S. soldier who allegedly shot 16 Afghan villagers has been caught on a surveillance video that showed him walking up to his base and raising his arms in surrender.
According to an Afghan official who viewed the footage, the U.S. authorities showed Afghan authorities the surveillance video to prove that only one perpetrator was involved in the Sunday shootings, which have sparked outrage across the country.
Afghan lawmakers are demanding
that the shooter, identified by U.S. officials as a staff sergeant, face a public trial inside Afghanistan. They have called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to suspend any negotiations with the U.S. on a long-term military pact until this happens.
A delegation investigating the shootings was to meet in the southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded about 600 yards (meters) away. The blast killed one Afghan intelligence official and wounded three other people, but the delegation members were unharmed.
