Bomb kills 14 Afghans

President Hamid Karzai said there must be better coordination between Afghan and foreign troops to avoid civilians casualties, while the United Nations expressed concern about civilians being caught up in the fight against Taliban forces.

The 14 -- mostly elderly people and children -- were travelling in a minibus that was struck by a bomb in the southern province of Uruzgan, a provincial government official said.

The bus was hit just outside the provincial capital Tirin Kot, spokesman Abdul Qayom Qayom said. "Fourteen civilians, mostly elders and children, were killed in the blast and three were wounded," he said.

The blast was caused by a mine that had been planted in the road, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. It was unclear who was behind the attack, he said.

Taliban insurgents are responsible for most of the regular bomb blasts -- including roadside bombings and suicide attacks -- in Afghanistan.

Officials were also trying to establish how many civilians were killed in clashes between Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and Taliban insurgents in Kandahar province -- the birthplace of the religious movement.

The interior ministry in Kabul said around 60 people were killed in the battles late Tuesday, and more than half were insurgents.

Bashary said later about 25 of the dead appeared to have been civilians according to preliminary investigations.

An Isaf spokesman in Kandahar said it could confirm 12 civilians were killed in the skirmishes, which included a bombing raid. Isaf has already said it killed 48 insurgents.