The Afghan Interior Ministry says an ambulance struck a roadside bomb, killing a pregnant woman who was being rushed to the hospital and four of her family members.

The statement says the ambulance was driving on a road Monday in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul when it hit the buried explosive. It says the dead included two women and two children.

Meanwhile, an official says another 4 civilians were killed in an attack in the east. Ghazni provincial spokesman Fazel Ahmad Sabawon says two women and two children died when a mortar fired by insurgents hit their home.

He says the militants appeared to be aiming for a government building nearby, but missed their target. He says the incident happened in Ghazni province's Gilan district.