As many as a dozen civilians were killed and injured in a suicide car bomb explosion that rocked Afghanistan's troubled Kandahar province Sunday morning. Officials are tight-lipped as who was the target of the attack, but witnesses said the explosion took place when a convoy of Canadian forces was passing through the main city area. There are no reports of casualties among the foreign troops as a result of the blast. Eight people were shifted from the site of the blast to the Kandahar main Mirwais hospital and the doctors confirmed three among them were dead. The bomber who was inside the car was bitterly maimed beyond recognition and his car was blown to pieces.
Several shops, situated in the Eidgah Jumaat area, where the explosion took place, have caught fire and smoke and flames could be seen billowing from the area. A police officer, who wished not to be named, told KUNA the blast was directed at the provincial governor Asadullah Khalid. He said the governor remained unhurt; however, the provincial government did not issue any statement so far. Two days back, three civilian motorcyclists were killed in a similar blast in the Arghandab district of the same province.