A roadside blast in southern Afghanistan killed six civilians yesterday, while a Canadian soldier died in another explosion in the same region.

The six civilians, including a woman and a child, died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Naw Bahar district of Zabul province, said district chief Zarif Khan. Two other civilians were wounded in the explosion.

Khan blamed Taliban militants for planting the device.

Also in the south, a Canadian soldier was killed when another roadside blast hit a patrol on Sunday, the Canadian military said. Sergeant Scott Shipway became the 97th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar.

Southern Afghanistan is the centre of the Taliban-led insurgency which is showing renewed strength nearly seven years after a US-led invasion drove the fundamentalist militia from power.

Militants regularly attack Afghan and foreign troops with roadside and suicide bombs