Eight people, including five children, were killed on Thursday when two roadside bombings went off in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, a provincial police spokesman said.

"A roadside bomb was detonated by a remote control in Musulmanai area of Musa Qala district at about 10 a.m. Thursday, killing seven civilian including five children and a woman," spokesman Farid Ahmad Farhang told Xinhua.

One man was injured in the incident, he said.

He said a Local Police Force (ALP) unit arrived shortly after the blast but another bomb was exploded killing one ALP serviceman on the spot.

No group claims the responsibility for the attack. The official blamed Taliban insurgents for the attack.

The Taliban insurgents announced on May 2 that they would launched a spring rebel offensive starting from May 3 across the country, saying their targets are foreign and Afghan troops as well as legislators and government functionaries.

A total of 3021 civilians were killed in Taliban-led attacks and violent incidents in Afghanistan last year, according to a UN report released earlier this year.

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