At least seven civilians, including four women, were killed and nine others wounded when a bomb blast hit a minibus in Herat city, capital of Afghanistan's western Herat province, Xinhua reports.

"Seven dead and nine wounded were admitted to Herat Regional Hospital following a bomb blast in Herat city Saturday evening," Harif Jalali, physician-in-chief of the hospital, told Xinhua.

According to local residents, the incident occurred when an improvised bomb planted in a minibus was detonated in Police District 12, a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in the city, 640 km west of Afghanistan's Kabul. Some of the wounded were in critical condition.