国际英语新闻:15 injured in bomb attack in N. Afghanistan

MAIMANA, Afghanistan, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Some 15 civilians were injured in a bomb attack in Afghanistan's northern Maimana city Thursday morning, a local official said.

The attack took place at around 10:15 a.m. local time (0545 GMT) in Turab Khan, a crowded area of Maimana, capital of northern Faryab province.

"A total of 15 civilians, including two children, were admitted to Maimana's main hospital this morning. Some of the injured remained in critical condition," Maruf Samar, head of the hospital, told Xinhua.

"The explosion was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attached to a bicycle. The target of the blast remained unknown," a local police official said earlier.

Local authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The province has been the scene of heavy clashes between the Afghan security forces and Taliban militants over the past couple of weeks.

About 600 civilians were killed and more than 1,340 others wounded in violence and Taliban-led attacks in first quarter of the year, according to UN mission in the country.

The mission has attributed 60 percent of the casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 19 percent were attributed to security forces while the rest 21 percent of civilian casualties were unattributed or caused by explosive remnants of war.