TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- A bomb blast claimed the lives of nine school children in Darqad district of northern Afghanistan's Takhar province on Saturday, said a statement of the provincial police.

"The terrorists planted a mine on a road in Tahiri village and the device went off at around 09:00 a.m. local time, killing nine students of a primary school and wounding another," the statement said.

Darqad district has been the scene of fierce fighting between government forces and the Taliban fighters over the past couple of months.