5 Afghan civilians killed in roadside bombing in western province

At least five Afghan civilians were killed and six others injured when a passenger bus touched off a roadside bomb in western province of Farah Wednesday, a spokesman for the provincial government said.

"Up to five passengers were killed and six others injured when the bus travelling from capital city of Kabul to Farah city ran over a bomb, planted by the Taliban insurgents along a main road, in Farah's Bala Buluk district," spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhwandi told Xinhua.

An estimated 45 to 50 people were in the bus and the death toll could go up in the blast that took place at around 5 p.m. local time as police forces are working to evacuate the victims to local hospitals, he said.

Violence has been on the rise since Taliban launched an annual spring offensive on May 3. The Taliban insurgents, who have been waging more than a decade- long insurgency, have yet to make comment.

Earlier Wednesday, two people were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden bicycle in Dashti Archi district of northern Kunduz province. Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012, in conflict-related violent incidents, a total of 1,145 civilians were killed and 1,954 injured, a 15 percent decrease in overall civilian casualties compared with the same period in 2011, a mid-year report released in Kabul by the United Nations office earlier Wednesday said.