Taliban bomb hits passenger bus, kills five

A Taliban roadside bomb tore through a bus on a highway in militant-plagued southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing five passengers, including women and children, officials said.

A Taliban roadside bomb tore through a bus on a highway in militant-plagued southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing five passengers, including women and children, officials said.

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There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing in the province of Ghazni but officials blamed the blast on the "enemies of Afghanistan", a standard phrase used to refer to the Taliban.

"The bus was travelling from Kabul to Kandahar. Along the road near Ghazni city it struck a roadside bomb. Five people were killed and 11 others were injured," provincial police chief Zarawar Zahid told AFP.

Baz Mohammad Hemat, a doctor in the local hospital, confirmed the casualties.

Improvised bombs planted on Afghan roads are a common insurgent tactic but they frequently miss their intended target -- Afghan and Nato troops -- and kill civilians instead.

The Taliban are waging an insurgency to oust President Hamid Karzai, the US-backed Afghan leader from government. The Kabul government is assisted by tens of thousands of US-led Nato troops deployed in the war-torn country since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.