A roadside bomb has killed eight civilians in a volatile district of southern Afghanistan days after the UN reported a surge in non-military casualties in the country.
Officials say the victims were travelling from Panjwayi district to Kandahar city when the bomb hit their vehicle on a main road.
"This morning a roadside bomb hit their vehicle killing eight, including four women," Panjwayi governor Fazal Mohammad Eshaqzai said on Saturday, adding that two children were wounded.
An interior ministry statement confirmed the blast and said the victims belonged to one family.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but roadside bombs are a common weapon used by the Taliban, though attacks that kill civilians often go unclaimed.
According to a UN report released on Wednesday, civilian casualties in Afghanistan soared by 24 per cent to 4853 in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
Ground combat is now causing more deaths and injuries than improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in a worrying sign of spreading conflict, the UN report said, with women and children increasingly caught in the crossfire.
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