Militants blow up bridge in Afghanistan's eastern province

SHARAN, Afghanistan, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The armed insurgents blew up a bridge in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province on Thursday, disconnecting the provincial capital Sharan to several districts, provincial government spokesman Shah Mahmoud Arian said.

"The bridge was built with millions of U.S. dollars few years ago and linked Sharan city to 11 districts onward to Pakistan was dynamited early today and caused big problems for the people," Arian told Xinhua.

He also blamed the Taliban group for destroying the key bridge, saying the Taliban militants are behind the "crime to create problems" for the people.

The armed outfit, which has been accused of bulldozing the roads, targeting power pylons and destructing bridges, has yet to claim responsibility for the explosion.