KABUL: A provincial governor says a vehicle carrying employees of a private mining company has struck a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, killing eight.

Parwan province leader Abdul Basir Salangi says five people also were wounded on Saturday in Bagram district. He says all of the victims were either labourers or security guards of the company working in a chromite mine. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but, in confirming the incident on Sunday, Salangi blamed the Afghan Taliban.

The Taliban have previously targeted people working for mines as well as other development and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.

The militants have recently escalated their activities in the country as US-led foreign troops have begun drawing down their presence.—AP