A suicide attack in south Afghanistan has killed at least 21 people, many of them children, police say. The bomb was detonated in a market in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province at about 1030 local time. Provincial police chief Jumma Gul told the BBC that a suicide bomber on a motorbike had struck a police vehicle.The attack comes amid an increase in militant attacks. US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours. There is no confirmation. A local official, quoted by Reuters, blamed Taleban fighters for the latest attack. Officials said four of those killed in the Uruzgan attack were policemen and the rest were civilians. A further 43 people were wounded.
Several shops were reported to have been destroyed by the blast. The attack came as Nato-led and Afghan troops were engaged in fierce fighting with insurgents in the eastern Kunar province. Insurgents were reported to have attacked a remote International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) outpost.
A local shopkeeper told AFP that the marketplace in Uruzgan was crowded when the bomb went off. "Most of the casualties are shopkeepers and people and children who were selling stuff on the roadside," said the man, who gave his name as Fazlullah. "I can see human flesh, blood and pieces of metal, wood, clothing scattered around. Everything is bloodied."
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says no group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast but the Taleban are known to be active in the area. Local government officials have been attacked by the Taleban in the past.
Some analysts believe that the movement has gained strength as it increases its attacks across Afghanistan. Aid agencies have expressed concern about the rising civilian death toll in Afghanistan. The Red