At least 14 civilians were killed and five wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan.
Officials said a van carrying an Afghan family was driving along a road in the Marjah district of Helmand Province when it struck an improvised explosive device (IED).
A relative of the family, Mohammad Salih, said the family had fled the district in recent days after getting news that a government offensive could be held there.
Nabil Jan Mullahkhail, the provincial police chief, said women and children were among the dead and that the death toll could rise.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast but the militant Taliban routinely plants IEDs to target Afghan security forces.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in February that there were more civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2014 than in any year since 2009.
It added that the Taliban and other Islamic insurgents were responsible for 72 percent of all civilian casualties.
