AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID Karzai has accused the Taliban of using a 12-year-old as a suicide bomber and sending him to carry out an attack that killed a local council member and three other civilians in eastern Afghanistan today.

Karzai says the bombing targeted civilians and that the use of children and youths in terrorist attacks is inhumane and un-Islamic.

The attack took place at a bazaar in Paktika province, 160 miles south of the capital, and comes one day after the Taliban announced the beginning of its spring offensive.

In a statement released yesterday, the insurgent movement announced it would step up operations against military bases, convoys and Afghan officials, including members of the peace council working to reconcile with top insurgent leaders.

Separate attacks

In the southwest province of Ghazni, a gunman opened fire on a checkpoint, killing two policemen and wounding a bystander during an hour-long battle, provincial police chief Zerawar Zahid said. In a separate attack in Ghazni, militants detonated a bicycle rigged with explosives outside the provincial police headquarters complex, wounding 13 civilians, according to provincial officials.

The wounded included an 11-year-old girl and two young boys. They had light shrapnel wounds, said Dr Mohammad Ismail Ibrahimzai, head of the Ghazni Provincial Hospital.

In the country’s south, a suspected militant shot and killed an Afghan soldier at a checkpoint in Kandahar city, said deputy police chief Shershah Yousafzai.

In other violence in Kandahar, policemen receiving NATO-donated supplies including caps and protective eyewear drew guns and fought over the items, leaving one policeman dead and four wounded, said Arghandab district governor Shah Mohammad.

- AP