(Changes dateline, previous KABUL; adds 12 insurgents killed)
KHOST, Afghanistan, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Thirteen Afghan civilians were killed when a roadside bomb hit their motorised rickshaw in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the latest casualties of escalating violence in the near decade-long war.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst level since the overthrow of the Taliban by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001 with record casualties on all sides of the conflict and a raging insurgency that has shown little sign of abating.
The bomb struck as the 13 villagers were travelling to receive medical treatment in Khoshamand district of Paktika, a volatile province to the south of Kabul that borders Pakistan, the provincial governor's spokesman, Mukhlis Afghan, said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Interior Ministry both condemned the attack and said women and children were among the dead.
Roadside bombs are by far the deadliest weapon deployed by insurgents and are responsible for most of the casualties among international, Afghan troops as well as civilians.
Ordinary Afghans have borne the brunt of the war as they became caught up in the crossfire. The United Nations said 2,412 civilians were killed and 3,803 others wounded in the first ten months of last year, a 20 percent increase compared to 2009.
Dozens of civilians have been killed this month alone.
The attacks around the country have helped to dispel expectations of a winter lull in fighting and military commanders acknowledge militant attacks are up on a year ago.
In Gormach district in northern Faryab province, 12 insurgents were killed and another six wounded when the homemade bomb they were making, exploded inside a compound overnight, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Elyas Wahdat; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Jonathon Burch and Sanjeev Miglani) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)
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