Afghan official says roadside bombing has killed 5 civilians in Kandahar province

KABUL, Afghanistan – A local Afghan official says a roadside bomb has killed five civilians and wounded three in Kandahar province.

Samim Akhplwak, the spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, says the roadside bomb went off on Tuesday morning in the remote district of Arghistan. He says two women and a child were wounded in the blast.

Akhplwak says an investigation is underway to determine if it was an old mine or if the roadside bomb was planted by the Taliban.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but roadside bombs are a favorite Taliban weapon to target government officials as well as Afghan security forces.

Kandahar province is the heartland of the Taliban insurgency — and the city was the capital of the extremists' government from 1996-2001.