KABUL, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - Eleven people, including women and children, were killed when the bus they were riding in hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, a local official said on Thursday.

Only one person survived the attack, which took place in the Helmand province on Wednesday evening.

Also on Wednesday, three children were killed as they played with a Taliban-planted grenade in the city of Kandahar.

On Monday, gunmen attacked the administrative center of Logar Province, about 55 kilometers to the south of Kabul, days before presidential and local elections on August 20 that the Taliban has vowed to disrupt.

The Taliban say attacks will continue.

Violence across Afghanistan is at its highest level since the Taliban were removed from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.