Afghan bomb kills children

As a line of schoolchildren walked past a military checkpoint yesterday, a bomb-loaded truck veered toward them and exploded, ending the lives of 14 young Afghans in a flash captured by a U.S. military camera.

The video shows an SUV slowly weaving through sandbag barriers at a military checkpoint just as a line of schoolchildren, most wearing white caps, comes into view.

They walk along a pathway between the street and a wall, several of them pausing for a few seconds in a group before moving forward again. The vehicle moves toward the security camera while the children walk in the opposite direction, nearly passing the SUV when the footage ends in a fiery blast.

Photos of the bombing's aftermath showed bloodied books lying on the ground beside small pairs of shoes.

Afghan officials said the children were attending a final day of class for the year to find out whether they would move up to the next grade.

Dr. Abdul Rahman, a doctor at a hospital near the blast, said the children were aged 8 to 10.

The U.S. military said the attack in the eastern province of Khost killed 16 people -- 14 children, an Afghan soldier and another person, likely a private guard. The U.S. said 58 people were wounded.

President Hamid Karzai said those who carried out the attack "cannot escape the revenge of Afghans and God's punishment."

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan and the NATO-led force also strongly condemned the attack.

The blast went off near the entrance to a police and army post, said Yacoub Khan, the deputy police chief of Khost. U.S. troops are also stationed inside the outpost, but no troops were wounded or killed in the attack.

Afghan officials said only eight people died, but the U.S. video seemed to support the likelihood of a higher toll.

Khan said the attack came at a time when Pashtun tribal elders from Mandozai district were meeting inside the compound to discuss security issues. It was not immediately clear how many -- if any -- of those tribal leaders were wounded or killed. Khan said it was possible they were the target but that there was no way for him to know for sure.