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Explosion kills 6 children, 1 man in southern Afghan province

KABUL, Afghanistan-Police say a bomb hidden in a trash heap has killed six children and one man in southern Afghanistan.

Police spokesman Farid Ayal says the children were rummaging for scrap metal and bottles when the homemade bomb exploded Friday in Trinkot, capital of Uruzgan province, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) southwest of Kabul.

Four other children were wounded by the explosion.

Roadside bombs are a favourite weapon of Taliban insurgents against foreign troops and the U.S.-backed government, but they also kill dozens of civilians each month.

The U.N. estimates improvised bombs and suicide attacks accounted for half of nearly 1,500 civilian deaths in the first six months of last year, the most recent statistics.

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