GHAZNI - A Taliban-type bomb tore through a mini van in central Afghanistan Monday, killing eight civilians including women and children, police said.

The blast from an improvised bomb, a device widely used by the Taliban in their attacks on security forces, killed the civilians in Andar district in the troubled central province of Ghazni.

"The bomb was planted by the enemies, the Taliban to target security forces. But it struck a civilian car and killed eight civilians," Mohammad Idris, a provincial police official told AFP.

Women and children were among the dead, he said, but could not give exact figures.

Scores of civilians have been killed in crossfire between rebels and security forces during the insurgency by the militant Islamist Taliban who are fighting to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

BDST: 1233 HRS, June 28, 2010
DC