<span style="color: #222222;">In Afghanistan, two bombs went off near-simultaneously on a road in northern province of the country today, killing two children and wounding nine people.<br />'' <br />'' Provincial Police Chief's Spokesman Adil Shah Adil said that the explosions took place in the city of Mazr-i Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh province. He said of the nine wounded, eight are civilians and one is a member of the Afghan security force.<br />'' <br />'' No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban have stepped up attacks in Balkh in recent weeks and elsewhere in northern Afghanistan.<br />'' <br />'' Earlier this month, the insurgents claimed an attack on a police checkpoint in Balkh that killed nine officers.<br />''<br />''The Taliban hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan today, staging near-daily attacks that target soldiers, security forces and government officials but also kill scores of civilians, even as they hold peace talks with a US envoy seeking a resolution to the 18-year war, America's longest conflict. </span><br />