8 civilians killed in Afghan attack

A suicide bomber targeting a NATO convoy killed eight Afghan civilians Thursday and wounded about two dozen others, authorities said.

Three Canadian soldiers were slightly wounded in the blast, military officials said.

The attack, in a crowded district of Kandahar city, followed a pattern of suicide bombings carried out by insurgents against coalition forces. The strike was typical in that it killed bystanders rather than soldiers, who patrol the city in heavily armored vehicles.

Three of those killed were children, the Interior Ministry said. Of the Afghans injured, two were policemen, said the provincial police chief, Sayeed Agha Saqib.

Suicide bombings, together with roadside bombs, are a favored tactic of the insurgents, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where conflict has been intensifying. Last year saw nearly 150 suicide attacks nationwide, the largest number since the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force condemned the attack and said its troops had cordoned off the area and provided aid to the injured, airlifting some to its nearby base for treatment.

Amid the rising violence, a U.S.-based human rights group charged that detainees formerly in American custody were receiving unfair trials after being handed over to Afghan authorities for prosecution.

Human Rights First, based in Washington and New York, examined the cases of more than 250 Afghans who had been detained either at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, the Afghan capital. Once turned over to Afghan authorities, the prisoners have been prosecuted on the basis of what the group described as thin evidence.

The group based its report on interviews with judges, prosecutors, lawyers and family members, along with observation of dozens of trials. The report’s author, Sahr Muhammed Ally, said American authorities “consistently failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the allegations of criminal activity necessary for fair trials.”

Some trials lasted as little as half an hour, with prosecutors calling no witnesses and providing “little or no” physical evidence, the report said.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military command in Afghanistan changed hands. The 82nd Airborne Division has been replaced by the 101st Airborne, based in Ft. Campbell, Ky.

The arrival of about 3,500 Marines in southern Afghanistan in recent weeks brings the total U.S. troop presence in the country to about 32,000, the largest number since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. troops serve under North Atlantic Treaty Organization command.

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laura.king@latimes.com

Special correspondent M. Karim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.