5 killed in attacks in Afghanistan

KABUL, Jan. 7 Kyodo

A mother, her newborn twins and their grandmother were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb, while a principal of a school was gunned down by militants Sunday in Afghanistan, officials said.

The remote-controlled bomb went off in Mandozay district of Khost Province in southeastern Afghanistan, said Khost Gov. Arsalah Jamal, adding that two others including the father were wounded.

He said the twins were born Saturday and that the family was taking them back home from a local hospital.

Militants have regularly been targeting military vehicles by roadside bombs, but sometimes civilian vehicles are hit.

In another attack on Sunday, the principal of a high school was shot dead by gunmen on a motorbike in Changar district of southern Helmand Province, an official said.

Abdul Rahim, principal of Changar High School, was leaving a mosque in the morning when he was gunned down, said Saiful Maluk Noori, the provincial education director.

He blamed Taliban militants for the attack and vowed that the incident would not stop students from going to school.

More than a dozen teachers were killed by militants in the country in 2006.

The militants have warned teachers and students to stop attending schools.

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