At least 4 killed, 3 wounded in Afghanistan blast

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A huge blast at a gunpowder store in central Kabul destroyed dozens of shops and houses early Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding nine, police said. Deputy city police chief Zulmay Khan said gunpowder in shops selling ammunition for hunting rifles caused the explosion. At least nine people were wounded, he said. The blast gouged a huge crater out of the neighborhood, threw piles of burning wreckage into the street and shattered windows for hundreds of meters (yards) around. Ali Shah Paktiawal, the criminal director of Kabul police, had said earlier it was a car bomb and that at least four or five people were killed. But after further investigation, Paktiawal said it "was not a terrorist act."