Roadside Bomb Detonates in Taliban Commander's House, Kills 5 Children Who Were Playing with It

KABUL, Afghanistan (TheBlaze/AP) -- A roadside bomb assembled and left in a Taliban commander's house in eastern Afghanistan detonated and killed five children who were playing with it, an official said Friday.

The incident occurred inside the house of an insurgent leader named Abdullah, said Mokhlis Afghan, a spokesman for the governor in Paktika province, and happened Thursday morning in the remote Mata Khan district.

Afghan officials and bystanders are pictured at the site of a roadside bomb blast in Ghazni province on July 3, 2013. The blast which occured near a girls' school wounded six civilians including a woman and a child, local officials said. (Credit: AFP/Getty) Images

According to Afghan, the commander had assembled a roadside bomb and left it inside his home, which he shared with relatives.

It exploded when the children, aged from three to seven years, began playing with it. A woman was also killed by the explosion.

The five children belonged to Abdullah's brother and his wife, while the killed woman was his sister.

Afghan men prepare the graves of 7 civilians killed after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the Alingar district of Laghman province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, June 3, 2013. A statement from the provincial government said a group of four women and two children had gone with a male driver into the hills to collect firewood. On their way back, their vehicle hit the mine and all inside were killed. (Credit: AP)

Abdullah escaped arrest and is being sought by Afghan security troops, which were the intended target for the bomb, said the spokesman.

The spokesman had no other details.

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