Bomb blast kills 10 soldiers, wounds 4 in southern Afghanistan

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ten soldiers were killed and four others wounded as a bomb exploded near an army checkpoint in Sangin district of the southern Helmand province on Saturday, said a statement of national army released here.

"The coward terrorists organized a bomb blast next to an army checkpoint in Sangin district at 04:30 a.m. local time today, and as a result 10 soldiers were martyred and four others wounded," said the statement.

Meanwhile, the Taliban outfit has claimed responsibility for the explosion, saying that 26 soldiers were killed in the blast.

Helmand province, with Lashkar Gah as its capital, 555 km south of Kabul, has been regarded as a Taliban hotbed in the conflict-battered Afghanistan.