At least 16 people have been killed near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar when a bus they were travelling in hit a mine that police said al-Qaeda had laid.
Witnesses said the blast left a crater one metre deep in the road, and there was debris and blood spread over a wide area.
"This was an al-Qaeda attack for sure, and could have some links to Hekmatyar," Mr Ustad Nazir Jan, police chief of Kandahar, said.
Renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been blamed for a series of bomb blasts in Afghanistan in recent months, and rebels loyal to him were attacked by US troops near the Afghan-Pakistan border earlier this week.
Officials said 15 people died immediately, one died on the way to hospital and the two remaining people in the vehicle were injured.
At least 16 people have been killed near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on when a bus they were travelling in hit a mine which police said had been laid by the al Qaeda network.
Witnesses said the blast had left a crater one metre deep in the road, and there was debris and blood spread over a wide area. The blast took place at Rambaha, some 20 km south of Kandahar, the former stronghold of the ousted Taliban militia.
"This was an al Qaeda attack for sure, and could have some links to Hekmatyar," Mr Ustad Nazir Jan, police chief of Kandahar, said.
Renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been blamed for a series of bomb blasts in Afghanistan in recent months and rebels loyal to him were attacked by US troops near the Afghan-Pakistan border earlier this week.
Local officials said that 15 people died immediately, one died on the way to hospital and the two remaining people in the vehicle were injured.