Women and children killed in Afghan hospital suicide bombing

  Between 20 and 30 people were killed by a suicide car bomb that targeted a hospital in Afghanistan's Logar province Saturday, as President Hamid Karzai declared that “terrorism” is on the rise.
Dozens are reported injured in the attack, while officials estimates of the dead, which at one point were as high as 60 , stood between 20 and 30 on Saturday afternoon. Free distribution of medicine was taking place and women, children and sick people were among the dead.
“The casualties are all patients, their visitors and relatives and hospital personnel." Din Mohammad Darwaish, the Logar provincial spokesman, said.
The Taliban have denied responsibility, saying that the attack was planned to blacken their name.

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The blast was caused by an SUV packed with explosives and driven by a suicide attacker, he said.
The 63rd French soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday in Kapisa province where two French journalists are being held hostage.
Karzai told a counterterrorism summit in Tehran on Saturday that political violence was on the rise in his country and the region.

"Unfortunately, despite all the achievements in the fields of education, infrastructure and reconstruction, not only has Afghanistan not yet achieved peace and security, but terrorism is expanding and threatening more than ever Afghanistan and the region," he told the opening session.

The two-day summit is being attended by the heads of state of six countries from the region, including Afghanistan’s neighbours, Iran and Pakistan