Nine Afghan children were killed on Saturday when a mine exploded as they walked to school, police said.

The blast happened in the northeastern province of Takhar, Reuters has reported.

“This area is under Taliban control and since security forces launched attacks to clear it, the Taliban have planted anti-personnel mines,” Khalil Asir, a spokesman for the provincial police, told Reuters. “Unfortunately, today, one of those mines exploded and killed nine primary school students,” he said.

The children, aged nine to 12, included four from what Asir described as a “Taliban family”.

Saturday is a school day in Afghanistan.