8 civilians killed in suicide attack in southern Afghanistan

Bomber targets NATO convoy; no NATO troops hurt, but civilians killed, several shops damaged.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
afghan 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
afghan 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
A suicide car bomber targeting a NATO convoy killed eight civilians and wounded 22 other people Thursday in southern Afghanistan, police said. The car bomber blew himself up shortly after a NATO convoy passed near him in Kandahar city, said provincial police Chief Sayed Agha Saqib. There have been no reports of NATO casualties, said Squadron Leader Iain Bright, a spokesman for NATO troops in the south. No NATO troops were wounded in the blast, Saqib said. Eight civilians were killed in the powerful explosion, which also damaged several shops, he said. The 22 wounded included two policemen and seven people who were in serious condition, Saqib said. Taliban militants regularly launch suicide bombings against Afghan and foreign troops in the country, but most of the victims in such attacks have been civilians. The number of suicide attacks spiked in 2007, with the Taliban launching more than 140 suicide missions, the highest number since they were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001. More than 8,000 people were killed in insurgency-related violence in 2007, the UN says.