Taliban commander killed while building a bomb at home

A Taliban commander and two of his family members were killed while he was building a bomb at his home in Helmand provice, officials said on Monday.

Eleven others were wounded in the explosion on Sunday, when the commander - named only as Baran by Afghan news site Tolo News - was assembling an IED in his house in Garmsyer district.

According to the statement from the local governor's office, two of Baran's family members were also killed and seven children and four women were wounded. 

The Taliban have not yet commented on the incident, reported Tolo News.

War between the US and Taliban has been ongoing since 2001, when Washington helped the Northern Alliance take control of Afghanistan.

Since then the Taliban has fought a fierce insurgency, with an increase in violent attacks on government forces and the capital Kabul since spring, ahead of much-delayed elections in October.

The Afghan government also faces a new threat from the Islamic State group, which has emerged in the north and east of the country and viewed as a much more radical and potent threat than the Taliban.

The Taliban has also fought battles with IS militants who it sees as impeding on its own influence in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a NATO foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan which killed three troops.