An Afghan woman and her child have been killed by a Taliban shooting in southern Helmand province Saturday morning, local officials said.
The incident took place in Helmand's Sangin district when Taliban insurgents opened fire on a civilian vehicle, the head of provincial governor's office Moahmmad Lal Ahmadi told TOLOnews.
The reason for the insurgents shooting at the civilian vehicle is not yet clear, he added, saying that police are investigating the attack.
After the attack, many Sangin residents began protesting, calling for justice from the government.
The protestors took the bodies of the mother and child to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah and criticised the government over the poor security in the district.
"There is more security force check posts in the district, but they are taking care of them, not the residents," one resident told TOLOnews.
Ahmadi responded: "We can say to the residents of the district with confidence that the security forces have several programmes to improve security in the district and such an incident will not happen again."
Sangin is considered one of the more insecure districts in the province with insurgents frequently targeting local security forces and government personnel.