A pregnant woman being rushed to hospital and four members of her family were killed when an ambulance struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said, according to Belfast Telegraph.

A statement said the ambulance was driving along a road in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul when it hit the buried explosive.

It said the dead included two women and two children.

Meanwhile, an official said another four civilians were killed in an attack in the east.

Ghazni provincial spokesman Fazel Ahmad Sabawon said two women and two children died when a mortar fired by insurgents hit their home in Gilan district.

He said the militants appeared to be aiming for a government building nearby, but missed their target.