At least nine people were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, officials said, the latest violence in a region that has seen weeks of intense fighting. Helmand’s deputy governor Baryalai Nazari told AFP that women and children were killed in the blast, in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Attaullah Afghan, head of Helmand provincial council, confirmed the toll. No group has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban and Afghan government forces clash regularly on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah — more frequently since May 1, when the United States began the final phase of its troop withdrawal.