A bomb tore into a vehicle in southern Afghanistan killed 12 women and children from two families on Saturday.

A bomb tore into a vehicle in southern Afghanistan killed 12 women and children from two families on Saturday.

The device planted on the side of the road struck their minivan on Friday afternoon in Gereshk district of Helmand province.

"Five women and a child from one family, and four women and two children from another family were killed in the blast," the Helmand governor's spokesman, Daud Ahmadi, told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Ahmadi blamed enemies of Afghanistan for the blast, a term used by the Afghan officials to refer to Taliban.

Farid Ahmad Farhang, Helmand police spokesman, confirmed the death toll.