At least 12 members of a family including women and children were killed in a roadside mine explosion on Sunday in Pakita province.

A family member of the victims, Noor Jan, told Ariana News, that two children were also wounded in the blast.

According to Noor Jan the incident occurred on Saturday when the family were fleeing the district to Gardez, the provincial capital. Their vehicle hit the IED in Chino village of Sayid Karam district.

Noor Jan says three women, three men and six children were killed in the blast.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Paktia Governor’s media office has blamed Taliban for the mine blast.

“The mine was planted by Taliban insurgents on a civilian highway, causing casualties,” read the statement.

According to the statement the Taliban insurgents, who have always targeted civilians, have shown their brutality once again, martyring many of our compatriots and leaving their families in mourning.

This comes after early in the August the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said in a new report that in the first six months of this year, 5,321 civilians have been killed or injured, a substantial increase against the same period last year.

According to the report, the AIHRC said in 1,594 different security incidents, a total of 5,321 civilians have been killed or injured in the first six months of 2021. Among these civilian casualties, 1,677 were killed, and 3,644 were injured.

This was in comparison to 2,957, including 1,213 killed and 1,744 injured, in the first six months of last year.

The AIHRC stated that a total of 154 women were killed and 350 wounded between January and June this year.

The AIHRC once again called on all parties to the conflict to respect the demands of the AIHRC and to implement its recommendations; otherwise, the responsibilities and consequences of violations will lie with the violators, causing civilians casualties and destruction of public facilities and the personal properties.