There have been three roadside bombings in the last four days in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb has killed 20 civilians, including six women and 13 children, in southeastern Afghanistan, according to an official.

The device went off as a rickshaw hit it on Wednesday morning. 

The incident took place in the Nawi Kali area, in Khoshamand district of Paktika province, which is on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

Afghanistan's interior ministry blamed the attack on "enemies of Afghanistan's people", a phrase often used by officials to refer to the Taliban.

The Afghanistan National Police launched an investigation into the case.

A total of 28 Afghan civilians have now been killed in three roadside bombings in the last four days.

The latest incident comes three days after nine civilians, including six women, two men and a child, died in a roadside bombing in northern Afghanistan when they were travelling to a wedding on a road often used by foreign forces.

A day earlier, another roadside bomb killed six people travelling in a minibus in the Sangin district of Helmand province in the troubled south.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or home-made bombs are the weapon of choice for insurgents and are a frequent cause of death for civilians as well as foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say that last year 2,043 civilians died as a result of Taliban attacks and military operations targeting the fighters.