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KABUL, Afghanistan—A roadside bomb probably intended for Afghan or NATO forces killed five civilians in a taxi in an unstable part of southern Afghanistan, an official said Sunday.

The explosion late Saturday came in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, the site of heavy battles between NATO troops and Taliban fighters over the last 18 months.

"Usually the Taliban are planting mines for Afghan and NATO forces, but this time it exploded on civilians," said Shah Baran, the local government leader.

Five civilians were killed and three wounded in the attack, he said.

The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office -- a security company that surveys the security situation in Afghanistan for aid workers and other groups -- said in a year-end report that 1,977 civilians were killed in insurgency related violence last year.

The report said that insurgent attacks -- including suicide and roadside bombs, gunfire, hangings and mortar fire -- killed 933 Afghan civilians last year. The report said that international military forces killed 525 Afghan civilians in aerial bombings and ground maneuvers.

An Associated Press count based on official figures found that more than 6,500 people -- mostly militants -- died in insurgency related violence in 2007, the deadliest year in Afghanistan since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.

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