Afghan blast kills 13 children

Thirteen elementary school students were among 25 people killed in a bomb blast in central Afghanistan on Thursday.

Officials said the bomb was detonated in an overturned timber truck, and caused a massive blast that destroyed shops and scattered debris over a huge area in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar province.

At least 13 children from a nearby school were killed, said provincial official Kamaluddin Zadran. Two other children were wounded and three were missing, he said.

A total of 21 civilians and four police officers also died in the blast, Zadran said.

Provincial police Chief Mustafa Khan said the truck overturned on the road late Wednesday. When officials arrived to deal with the overturned truck on Thursday morning, it is believed, militants used a remote to detonate the bomb, which was likely stashed between the timber in the back, he said.

Authorities said they suspected the truck may have been heading down main road south to Kabul with the explosives.

Militants regularly use roadside bomb attacks against Afghan and foreign troops and police, but the majority of the victims have been civilians. Explosives are also legally permitted in Afghanistan for some activities, including forestry.

The powerful blast sent debris more than two kilometres, officials said, and left a huge crater in the ground.

Picking up the pieces

Nearby mud houses collapsed and some vehicles in the area were left twisted and charred, according to eyewitness reports.

"I saw a big fire and smoke from the main road," local Lal Mohammad told The Associated Press. "I collected five bodies myself and then picked up body parts."

The blast happened hundreds of kilometres away from a major U.S. military offensive underway in southern Helmand province, and the two events do not appear to be related.

A roadside bomb also killed two NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Thursday. Their nationalities have not been released, but there is no indication they were Canadian.

About 3,000 Canadian soldiers are based in the southern province of Kandahar.