At least five people have been killed and 32 wounded in a bomb blast in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today. Officials are blaming the blast on Taliban fighters.
The blast in central Kandahar was the worst in Afghanistan in seven months and came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a one-day visit to the capital, Kabul, 460 kilometres to the northeast.
Kandahar police chief Mohammad Khan was quoted by the Afghan Islamic Press news agency as saying the Taliban were to blame for the blast. But Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi denied responsibility.
"The Taliban condemn killing of civilians," he said. "We are disturbed and sorry over the loss of civilians. How can they blame the Taliban just seconds after the blast without any investigations? It is done by warlords allied to the Afghan government. It is meant to defame the Taliban."
The blast in the former Taliban stronghold came a day after the top U.S. military commander, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, described security in Afghanistan as "exceptionally good."
The bomb in the city centre was planted in a bag left by a road leading to the main U.S. base in Kandahar, said a senior security official who requested anonymity. The official said at least two of the five people killed were women, and put the number of wounded at 32. U.S. and Afghan troops have sealed off the site of the blast.