Eight people have died in a car bomb attack near a crowded market in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, police have said, with the Taliban saying it carried out the attack.

The bombing took place in Gereshk district in Helmand province, where Taliban fighters are engaged in their battle against the US-supported Afghan government.

Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, provincial police chief, said: "An explosives-filled car, which was abandoned, exploded and killed eight people and wounded 17 others. It happened near a weekly bazaar."

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the bombing in a telephone call to AFP news agency.

Yousuf Ahmadi told the agency: "We carried out the bombing. It was a car bomb that was exploded by one of our fighters using a remote-controlled device."

Andiwal said there was no "military presence" in the area at the time of the blast.

"All the casualties are civilians," he said.

A police officer was killed earlier on Wednesday in a roadside bombing in Helmand.

A US-led invasion of Afghanistan forced the Taliban government from power. Thousands of people have died amid the fighting against the Kabul government and Afghan security forces.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map of Afghanistan locating Gereshk district

Al-Jazeera