KABUL: Officials say bombings killed nine Afghan civilians in a volatile southern province.

A statement from the Helmand provincial governor's office issued Sunday says the deadliest blast ripped through one of two cars traveling the day before between the Musa Qala and Nawzad districts.

The governor's office said seven civilians were killed, including three women and two children, and eight other people were wounded.

It says two other civilians were killed Saturday in a bombing in the Kajaki district, providing no other details. Insurgents also attacked a checkpoint elsewhere in the district, killing an Afghan policeman.

The statement says ''Taliban militants regularly plant roadside bombs to target Afghan and Nato forces, but the devices often kill Afghan civilians.''

It says Afghan security forces also killed 13 Taliban insurgents in Helmand's Gereshk district.