At least seven civilians were killed in two roadside bomb blasts in Kandahar and Ghazni provinces in the last 24 hours, officials said on Saturday. 

In Kandahar, four civilians were killed and three more were wounded in an explosion in Arghandab district in Kandahar on Friday afternoon, the provincial police spokesman Jamal Barakzai said. 

He said the bomb was placed on a roadside in the Qabristan area in Arghandab district. 

He added that a vehicle carrying civilians was targeted by the explosion. 

Meanwhile, three civilians were killed and three more in a roadside bomb blast in Ghazni city’s district 3 on Saturday, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

The bomb was placed by the Taliban, the statement said.

Taliban has not commented on the two incidents.

This comes as violence has remained high in the country despite peace efforts. 

Data collected by TOLOnews show that 44 civilians and 81 security force members were killed in separate security incidents and Taliban attacks across Afghanistan since the start of the holy month of Ramadan on April 13. 

The statistics show that 79 security members and 33 civilians were killed during this period. 

The Ministry of Defense said that the Taliban also suffered “massive” casualties in their attacks during this period.