Suicide attack at funeral in Afghanistan kills at least 8

Laghman governor spokesperson places the death toll at 16, with another 39 wounded

KABUL: At least eight people were killed on Thursday when a suicide bomber detonated himself at funeral in eastern Afghanistan, provincial officials said.

A local official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least eight people were killed in the attack in Mehtarlam, in the eastern Laghman province. Laghman governor spokesperson Sarhadi Zwak placed the death toll at 16, with another 39 wounded.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet.

Afghanistan last year saw a surge in violence as international forces wound down their combat mission, which began in 2001. It has now been downgraded to support and training duties to help the Afghan army and police.

About 17,000 foreign soldiers, most of them from the US, will remain in Afghanistan as part of the new mission.

But US troop numbers are set to halve within 12 months and fall to almost nothing in two years.

Civilian casualties rose 19 per cent from the previous year to a record high in 2014, with nearly 3,200 civilians killed and 6,429 injured, a UN report found.

Child casualties had jumped a third by the end of November and by 12 per cent among women, in the deadliest year for non-combatants, said the report, released in December.