“We think probably the Taliban are laying land mines or resorting to roadside bombs to hit Afghan and foreign forces,” said Niamatullah Ghafari, a member of Parliament from Helmand Province. “But often it rips through civilian vehicles driving the same roads.”  Rear Adm. Vic Beck, a NATO spokesman, said in a statement: “This despicable attack blatantly targeted Afghan civilians. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the murdered civilians, and we wish for a hasty recovery for all those injured by this attack.”  A Taliban spokesman in Helmand denied responsibility for the bombing in a telephone interview, instead blaming NATO and Afghan forces. “They themselves are planting mines and detonating them against civilians in order to provoke civilians against the Taliban,” said the spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid.  He offered no proof to support the accusation but reiterated the Taliban’s previous assertions that all Taliban fighters had been instructed to avoid civilian casualties.  “We are not detonating bombs on civilian buses, never, ever,” he said. “Yes, in a suicide attack there might be some civilian casualties, but not in an attack on the main highway.”  The United Nations mission in Afghanistan condemned the minibus bombing “in the strongest terms” and said its investigators were gathering information about the bomb that was used.  “The planting of improvised explosive devices on roadways, either targeting civilian transport or indiscriminately affecting civilians, is against international humanitarian law,” the mission said in a statement. “There can be no justification for such action.” Most roadside bombs use a simple pressure plate that sets off an explosion when a vehicle rolls over it, be it military or civilian.  On Dec. 10 a roadside bomb killed 15 civilians in Helmand Province.  “I.E.D.’s are the main cause of civilian casualties,” said Muhiddin Khan, a district governor in Helmand Province. “These powerful bombs rip through civilians vehicles and hardly leave survivors.”  He said civilian casualties had increased because “almost every part of the district is crawling with I.E.D.’s.”  Michael Kamber reported from Kabul and Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul.
Afghan officials blamed the Taliban for the killings, saying they believed NATO or Afghan government troops who routinely travel the road were the intended targets.