Eleven members of an Afghan family, including women and children, were killed in a grenade attack on their home in the country's volatile east, officials said Monday.

The attack, which left three others wounded, occurred in Laghman province on Sunday but no militant group has so far claimed responsibility.

“Eleven people were martyred after two grenades were thrown at their house by unknown gunmen in Laghman's Baad Pakh district,” the local governor's spokesman Sarhadi Zwak told AFP.

“All the victims were civilians, women and children among them,” Zwak added.

One of them died of his wounds while being rushed to a hospital in neighbouring Nangarhar province, said health official Abdul Latif Qayyomi.

Civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest recorded by the UN since 2009, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants killed or wounded.

Twelve civilians, including eight children returning from school, were killed on Friday in a roadside bombing in the eastern province of Paktika.

The UN last week voiced alarm over the recent killing of 25 other civilians in the southern province of Helmand, most of them in US air strikes.

Opinion

Editorial

Business concerns
Updated 26 Apr, 2024

Business concerns

There is no doubt that these issues are impeding a positive business clime, which is required to boost private investment and economic growth.
Musical chairs
26 Apr, 2024

Musical chairs

THE petitioners are quite helpless. Yet again, they are being expected to wait while the bench supposed to hear...
Global arms race
26 Apr, 2024

Global arms race

THE figure is staggering. According to the annual report of Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace...
Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...