Suspected suicide blasts rock Kandahar leaving at least 35 dead
Suspected suicide blasts rock Kandahar leaving at least 35 dead
Saturday, 13, Mar 2010 09:33
By Richard James.
A series of suspected suicide bombings are reported to have left at least 35 people dead and another 45 injured in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
The blasts on Saturday evening are believed to have targeted a prison, a mosque, a hotel and a road junction.
The half-brother of the country's president Hamid Karzai, Ahmad Wali Karzai, is quoted as claiming the main attack had been aimed at the city's prison and the explosion is said to have been so huge nearby building collapsed.
Local officials claim the death toll is expected to rise with fears some people remain trapped under the rubble overnight.
Police officers and children are said to be among the victims already accounted for.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks, with messages appearing online claiming the blasts were a "message" to the Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, in response to suggestions the US may launch a new offensive against militants around Kandahar.