Nine killed in Afghan blast

KANDAHAR - A roadside bomb hit a minibus in southern Afghanistan’s restive Kandahar province Friday, killing nine civilians and wounding eight others, an official said.

The incident took place on the highway linking Kandahar and the neighboring province of Helmand, Zalmay Ayubi, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government, told Xinhua.

Among those killed were four women and three children, said the official, adding that servicemembers of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) rushed to the scene and sent the injured to a hospital.

Kandahar has been seeing increase of violence since the NATO force earlier this year announced it would launch a major offensive against the Taliban in the province.