KABUL: Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban has killed five civilians from the same family in the southern Kandahar province.

In a statement, it condemned the killings, adding that three of the victims were children.

The attack follows last weekend's presidential runoff, a vote which the Taliban had warned Afghans not to participate in or face attack.

On Sunday, officials said the group had cut of the fingers of a dozen voters in retribution and also killed 11 people.

The two candidates, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, have both vowed to improve ties with the West and sign a long-delayed security pact allowing nearly 10,000 US troops to remain in the country for two more years.