LASHKAR GAH, Sept 26: Key allies in the war against Taliban militants pledged to stay the course on Tuesday as a suicide bomber killed 18 in the south and a blast killed an Italian Nato soldier.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide blast outside the governor’s office in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province. Nato troops were in the area at the time but none was hurt, an official said.

Most of those killed were civilians, many queuing to do paperwork for a pilgrimage to Makkah.

Near Kabul, a roadside bomb killed an Italian Nato soldier and seriously wounded two compatriots. The Taliban also claimed that attack.

The sister of the Italian killed on Tuesday said the troops should leave.

“You can’t let our boys be slaughtered like butcher’s meat,” said Barbara Langella. “It’s not right that other families, other wives, other mothers, fathers and girlfriends, suffer like this again.”

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano defended the Afghan mission, saying it was “indispensable”. But the attack also stoked debate in the ruling centre-left coalition.

“There is the financing for the mission until the end of the year, but it’s obvious that we have to seriously look at the issue of how to get out,” Welfare Minister Paolo Ferrero was quoted in Italian media as saying.—Reuters