DHAKA: At least eight civilians including women and children were killed when their van struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The officials confirmed the matter, report the NDTV.

Deputy Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said the incident occurred in the Jaghuri district of Ghazni province.

It comes weeks after the NATO combat mission which began in 2001 was downgraded to support and training duties to help the Afghan army and police.

“Eight civilians, including one woman and a child, were killed in this morning roadside blast. One child and one woman were wounded,” he said, adding that the injured child and woman were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Asadullah Safi, the deputy police chief of the province said that four of those killed belonged to one family.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but roadside bombs have been the Taliban’s weapon of choice in their war against foreign and Afghan security forces, now in its fourteenth year. The bombs also increasingly kill and wound civilians.

BDST: 2007 HRS, JAN 20, 2015