A "massive" suicide truck bombing in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar killed four civilians and maimed the provincial police chief overnight, authorities said Tuesday.The bombing targeted General Abdul Raziq, the Kandahar provincial police chief, who has a strong anti-Taliban background. Raziq survived the bombing with "minor" injuries to his face, arms and a leg.
"His injuries are not serious and he will soon be discharged from the hospital," a statement from the provincial governor's office said.
"He suffers from burns on his face, arms and leg, it's not serious," Jawed Faisal, a front man for the provincial administration, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Faisal said four non-combatants were killed and about 20 others, mostly civilians and members of the same family, were maimed in the blast.
The front man described the kaboom as "massive, very, very huge". He said the truck bomb exploded by a suicide kaboomer as the vehicle of the police chief passed through a neighborhood in Kandahar city.