Taliban bombs kill Afghan family, police: Officials

The blast was so powerful that nothing was left of the bodies: District governor

KANDAHAR:  Taliban roadside bombs killed five civilians, including a family of four, and two police officers in the country's troubled south at the weekend, officials said Sunday.

The family - mother, father and two daughters aged eight and nine - died along with their driver in Helmand province's Khanishin district when their vehicle hit an improvised bomb late Saturday.

"The blast was so powerful that nothing was left of the bodies, they are shattered in small pieces," district governor Shah Mahmoud said, blaming Taliban insurgents for the attack.

Two police officers were killed on the same day in a similar bomb attack in Musa Qala district, another restive part of Helmand where insurgents have an active presence, the local district governor Nemat Khan said.

The officers were on a routine patrol when their pick-up truck was blown up.

Roadside bombs are favourite weapons of Taliban fighting to oust the Western-backed government and the indiscriminately placed explosives regularly kill civilians.