Six people were killed and at least 42 wounded in a suicide bomb attack on government buildings in southern Afghanistan yesterday, officials said, but a brother of the Afghan president who was in one of the offices was unhurt.
The blast occurred on a road between the main intelligence office in Kandahar and a compound used by the provincial government council.
The council is led by Ahmad Wali Karzai, a brother of President Hamid Karzai.
“I am fine and safe,” he told reporters later.
A bomb-filled tanker exploded outside the council compound, an official said.
The explosives-filled tanker dug a crater about 4m deep and 8m wide into the road, a reporter said. The explosion destroyed fences around the compound and knocked down a wall of the building, also sweeping away a security post.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Taliban insurgents have carried out a series of bombings in the city.
“Six people were killed including an intelligence employee, two intelligence guards and three passers-by, including a woman,” Kandahar Province Governor Rahmatullah Raufi said.
“Forty-two others are wounded, including two female provincial council members. Most of the wounded have superficial injuries and they will be discharged from hospital,” he said.
The bulk of the casualties were civilians from surrounding houses or who had come to the council for business, Raufi said.
Car dealer Haji Gulalai was at the provincial council office for a business meeting.
“As we entered the main room to meet with Wali Karzai and council members, we heard a big explosion,” he said.
“I don’t know where it took place and how, but some people were wounded. Wali Karzai was okay,” said Gulalai, who suffered a minor head injury.
Ahmad Jan, a teen living in the area, said the roofs of two houses had collapsed and some people may have been trapped under the rubble.
Also yesterday, two men on a motorbike threw acid at girls walking to school in the city, wounding 15 of them with three in a serious condition, the health ministry said.
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