KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A roadside bomb blast hit a minivan in southern Afghanistan on Friday, killing nine civilians and wounding eight others, officials said.

The spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government, Zalmai Ayoubi, said four women and three children were among those who died in the blast in Maywand district of the province. The eight injured people were taken to a hospital run by NATO troops, he said.

Violence has spiked recently in Afghanistan's volatile south as Taliban insurgents step up attacks ahead of a planned major operation by NATO forces to secure the main city of Kandahar.

Ayoubi said the group was traveling from their village toward Kandahar city, and the explosion occurred after the driver turned off the main road to go around a section that was damaged.