Roadside bomb kills eight civilians in southern Afghanistan

Interior ministry statement says victims belonged to one family.

KANDAHAR: Eight civilians including five women were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in southern Afghanistan, local officials said on Saturday.

The United Nations said this week that the Afghan war was inflicting an increasingly devastating toll on civilians, with the number of casualties rising by almost a quarter in the first half of this year.

"They were travelling from Pajwai district to Kandahar city to visit a doctor and do some shopping for the upcoming Eidul Fitr," said Dawa Khan Minapal, a spokesperson for provincial governor.

An interior ministry statement confirmed the blast and said the victims belonged to one family, AFP reported.

Their vehicle was targeted by a freshly planted roadside bomb, he said, adding that their dead bodies are still in the area.

"Police have already transferred two wounded children from the incident to a provincial hospital", the spokesperson stated.

In a similar incident in the eastern city of Jalalabad two people were killed when a remote control bomb went off. The target was an army vehicle but it escaped unharmed, said Abdul Zia Abdulzai, a spokesperson for the provincial governor.