At least five civilians were killed and 20 were wounded in a roadside explosion in the southern province of Kandahar in Afghanistan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

The incident happened on Tuesday night in Maiwand district on Kabul-Kandahar highway when a passenger vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, a provincial police officer confirmed to Tolonews. 

The district had fallen to the Taliban a day earlier. However, the insurgent group has taken responsibility for the explosion. 

Talks in Doha, Qatar, between the Taliban and the Afghan government have failed to produce any result so far. On the contrary, the violence has increased in the country with the Taliban overrunning over 30 district centers in the last two months. 

There is a 29 percent increase in civilian casualties in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year, including a 37 percent rise in casualties among women and a 23 percent increase among children. 

Fighting in northern and eastern provinces has intensified displacing thousands of people. 

 (SAM)