At least two children were killed and eight other people were injured, including women, in a blast in the southwestern province of Uruzgan on Thursday.  

The blast occurred on Wednesday evening in Gaizab district of the province, officials said.  

According to the provincial head of information and culture, the blast was due to an explosion of ordnance left over from past fighting in the area.  

All of the victims were children and women, he added.     

Due to the conflict in Afghanistan that has lasted over 40 years, a lot of explosive ammunition remains in the countryside and civilians are killed or injured in detonations.