A powerful bomb destroyed a bridge outside the southern Afghan city of Kandahar yesterday, killing 18 people traveling on a bus, police said.
Only two people on the bus survived the explosion on the Rambasi Bridge, some 10km south of Kandahar, said deputy police chief Ustad Nazir Jan.
No one has taken responsibility for the explosion, but Jan blamed Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives.
Jan said he believed Afghan soldiers were the target of the bomb, which went off barely 1km from an Afghan army post. Soldiers from the unit are loyal to Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai and routinely patrol the area, he said.
``We believe they were the target, but we are investigating,'' he said.
The scene on the bridge was one of carnage. Eyewitnesses said body parts lay on the ground around the bus, which was a twisted and mangled hulk.
Nomads living in a nearby camp witnessed the explosion.
"I was with my two children and we heard this loud noise. I ran away from it but then we heard people screaming, we went to help," said Toori Ali.
"It is the worst thing I have ever seen. There were body parts and only a small child and the driver lived," he said, adding he was still shaking from the sight of the carnage.
The police said they were convinced they knew the culprits -- Taliban and al-Qaeda.
"One hundred percent we are sure it was Taliban and al-Qaeda," Jan said. "We will get the proof." He said the explosion may also have involved guerrillas loyal to renegade rebel commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Afghan and US authorities believe that Hekmatyar's men are aligned with Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants.
Several Afghan soldiers were killed in a similar explosion about two months ago in Kandahar. A bomb went off as their jeep crossed a busy road.
On Sept. 5 last year an assassination attempt was made on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in southern Kandahar. The authorities also blamed Taliban and al-Qaeda. The would-be assassin was killed by US Special Forces guarding Karzai. Two bystanders also were killed.
Southern Kandahar was the former spiritual base of the Taliban, who were ousted by the US-led coalition's assault on Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001.
The US military is stationed at the airport in southern Kandahar, from where they track down al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives.
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