[Quqnoos] A suicide attack killed at least 16 civilians in a bazaar on Thursday in southern Uruzgan province, officials said. The incident occurred in a crowded bazaar in Deh Rawud district, wounding 13 others -- most of the civilians. A local police official in the volatile Uruzgan province put the death toll even higher, saying 20 people were killed in the blast.
In Uruzgan's neighbouring Helmand province, a suicide bomber struck a police convoy on Thursday, wounding four civilians. The attack took place in Musa Qala, a town in the volatile Helmand province, said district chief Mullah Abdul Salam.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that the number of civilians killed by anti-government forces in 2009 rose 40 percent for a year earlier to over 1,600. The UN says suicide attacks and roadside bombings were the main cause of civilian casualties last year in Afghanistan.
No group, including Taliban, has claimed immediate responsibility for the attacks.