KABUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Three civilians were killed and 14 others wounded when a bomb exploded Thursday morning which targeted the motorcade of provincial police chief in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, officials said.

    "It was around 11: 00 a.m. local time when a remote-controlled bomb struck the convoy of police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal near Gereshk district killing three civilians and wounding 14 others," a doctor in a nearby hospital in Gereshk district Mohammad Tahir Rasouli told Xinhua.

    Andiwal said no policemen were harmed in the attack, adding the bomb was planted in a handcart.

    He did not point finger at any particular groups or individuals, saying the enemies of peace, a term used against Taliban militants, were behind the attack.

    Taliban militants have yet to make any comment.

    Militancy and conflicts have claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people mostly insurgents according to officials so far this year in Afghanistan.