At Least 13 Killed in Blast in Kandahar

A bomb blast in the southern city of Kandahar killed at least 13 people Tuesday, including eight children, and injured dozens.

The explosion ripped through a crowded district in the southern part of the city shortly after lunchtime. Police had received a tip and had begun securing the area when the blast occurred. The bomb was attached to a bicycle or a cart.

Most of the victims were children from a nearby school who had been drawn to the scene by a smaller bomb that detonated minutes earlier, injuring no one.

The bombs went off about 100 yards from barracks where Afghan commandos who battle Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are stationed.

One suspect was arrested and reportedly told police that more bombs were planted in the city. The police chief blamed the Taliban for the attack but provided no evidence.

Kandahar province Gov. Yusuf Pashtun had been expected to pass through the area minutes before the explosions, but it wasn’t clear whether he was the intended target.

“There were 23 people injured and lying on the ground,” said Salim Khan, deputy police chief. “Some of the bodies were on the streets and we saw some people try to take them away, either home ... or to the hospital.”

The blasts were the second deadly bomb attack in Afghanistan in less than two weeks. Five Afghan intelligence officials were killed Dec. 28 in Kabul when a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body minutes after he was arrested on charges of terrorist activities.

The method of the attack in Kandahar was similar to one used Sept. 5, 2002, when at least two dozen people who rushed to help those injured in a Kabul explosion were killed by a second, larger one. Later that day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped an assassination attempt when a man opened fire on his car in Kandahar.

Tuesday’s bombings sobered the mood in Kabul, the capital, where a loya jirga, or grand assembly, had ratified a new national constitution Sunday. Karzai said the central government would do its best to help the families of the victims.

“We condemn this act of cruelty and barbarity,” he said. “The perpetrators are enemies of peace and prosperity. The terrorists must know that their acts will only strengthen our resolve to step up our fight against terrorism until the menace is completely banished from our land.”

Kandahar, the nation’s historic capital, was the spiritual home of the Taliban regime, which was driven from power by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001. There are 12,500 foreign troops, most American, still battling Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the southern and eastern regions of the country.

Tuesday’s attack underlines the difficulty of bringing security to the region. The U.S. military announced plans in December to start a reconstruction team in Kandahar in the next few months. A quasi-military team of 50 to 70 civilians and army officers would provide security and help with projects such as building water wells and schools.

The blasts also raise the question of how secure Kandahar, and the south, is for holding national elections in June. There is growing pressure in Kabul from nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations and ordinary Afghans to delay presidential elections until fall and the balloting for two houses of the national assembly up to a year.

The U.N. has pulled workers, who are targets of kidnapping and assassinations, from most of the south. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is expected to move more soldiers into the area, but no nations have come forward with volunteers.