KABUL -- At least 14 women and children were killed on Thursday when a bomb went off as they were having a picnic beside the grave of a relative in eastern Afghanistan, an official said.
Seven children and seven women died in the blast and two women and a child were wounded, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for Nangarhar province’s governor.
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan condemned the attack as "deplorable," noting that it took place "during what should be a time of Eid celebration and clearly demonstrates the insurgents’ willingness to kill innocent people for their own selfish gains."
"We are strong in our resolve to continue our important work with our Afghan and international partners to give the Afghan people the chance they deserve to build their country, for themselves and their children, no matter what desperate tactics the insurgents and the Taliban resort to using," the Embassy said in a statement.
Abdulzai said an investigation into the bombing, which happened at a graveyard in Ghani Khail district, was under way.
He added that it is normal for families to go to graveyards during the Eid religious holiday.
Nangarhar and its capital, Jalalabad, have been hit by a series of bombings and suicide attacks over the last week.
Three Afghan bodyguards for the Helmand province police chief, Mohammad Hakim Angaar, were killed on Wednesday in a suicide bombing, the provincial governor's spokesman, Omar Zwak, told Reuters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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