KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb planted by the Taliban killed at least eight civilians including three women and a child in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province on Tuesday, a local official said.

The victims of the blast in Kandahar’s Maroof district “were going from Maroof district center to their village when a newly planted Taliban bomb hit their car,” said Zia Durani, a spokesman for Kandahar police.

The southern province of Kandahar has long been a Taliban stronghold.

Durani provided no evidence to support the assertion of Taliban responsibility. The group has not claimed the attack.

Roadside bombs have been responsible for about 18 percent of civilian casualties this year, according to the United Nations.

Nearly 500 people were killed by improvised explosive devices between January and September.