Four Afghans die in mine blast

Four Afghan civilian including a woman were killed when their taxi car struck a mine in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, police and witnesses said.
The mine on a road in southern Helmand province's Garmsir district was believed to have been planted by suspected militants loyal to the ousted Taleban regime, a police colonel from the region told newsmen. "We believe it was the work of the Taleban. It was very similar to bombs we've seen in Taleban attacks in the past," the colonel said asking anonymity.
The Taleban militants, who have been waging a guerrilla-style insurgency in Afghanistan since their toppling by a US-led offensive in late 2001, have been using road-side bombs in their attacks.
Abdullah, a resident of the district which is a known hotbed of the Taleban activities, told AFP that four people were killed in the blast.
"I saw four people dead," said Abdullah, who goes only by one name. The violence mainly blamed on the Taleban has killed nearly 1,700 people, many of them militants. Nearly 200 others have died this year. More than 20,000 US-led troops remain in Afghanistan to hunt the Taleban, mostly in southern and eastern areas where the militants find some support among local population.