KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Nine civilians, including five children, were killed Friday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle on the way to a religious shrine in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The explosion occurred in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province, as members of a family drove to visit the shrine in the remote Wanaka area.

Separately, the British Defense Ministry in London said on Friday that a British soldier was killed Thursday in the southern province of Helmand  the latest British death as a debate in Britain intensifies about the quality of equipment available to British troops as they face roadside bombs and other attacks by the Taliban.