An eight-year-old girl believed to be on a suicide bombing mission has been detained by police in Afghanistan. Reports in the international media said she was nabbed wearing a suicide vest.

The unnamed girl was detained on last night in Helmand province, as she tried to carry out an attack against border police wearing a suicide jacket, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry told the BBC.

Police believe she was encouraged to carry out the attack by her brother. She is believed to be the sister of a prominent Taliban leader.

“She could not operate the button to detonate the suicide vest or she was arrested before she could carry the attack,” the BBC’s Bilal Sarwary said.

The report said that the girl has now been transferred to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

•Photo shows a suicide bomb scene.