KANDAHAR: A bomb attack killed four girls attending an Afghan wedding, officials said Thursday, blaming the attack on Taliban rebels intending to target government employees at the event.

The children, aged between seven and 12, died when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated as they collected water from a river during celebrations in the southern province of Helmand.

"The children were at the wedding party and this morning they went to collect water when the IED exploded on a footpath," provincial administration spokesman Omar Zwak told.

"The Taliban may have planted the bomb to hit local government staff who were at the wedding, but it killed innocent children."

Senior police official Mohammad Ismail Hotak confirmed the incident outside the provincial capital Lashkar Gah and gave a similar account.

"Four young girls were killed. The body of one of them has been totally shattered," he said.