At least four children have lost their lives and another has sustained injuries in a powerful bomb explosion in a rural area in Afghanistans southern province of Zabul.
Local administrative chief Wazir Mohammad Jawadi said the blast took place in the Shahjoy district of the province, which is situated 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of the capital, Kabul, as a group of children were playing at the roadside.
Jawadi added that Taliban militants had planted the improvised explosive device in the area in a bid to target Afghan security forces.
Roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices are by far the most lethal weapons Taliban militants use against Afghan forces, foreign troopers and civilians.
On Thursday, five Afghan civilians were killed and as many injured in a bomb explosion that destroyed their vehicle in the northwestern province of Badghis.
Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity 15 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washingtons so-called war on terror.
The war removed the Taliban from power but insecurity is still rampant in the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.
The Taliban militant group recently announced the start of its annual spring offensive against Afghan security forces and US-led foreign forces across the conflict-ridden country.
The Taliban said in a statement that the campaign had begun on April 12. The militants dubbed the offensive Operation Omari in honor of the Taliban founder and long-time leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who purportedly died at a hospital in Karachi, in Pakistan, in April 2013.
A massive Taliban attack killed 64 people and left 347 others wounded in the capital, Kabul, on April 19.
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