A suicide attack at a funeral service for the Afghan president's assassinated brother killed the head of the religious council for southern Kandahar province today and at least three other people, officials said.
President Karzai was not at the funeral for Ahmad Wali Karzai in Kandahar city, his spokesman, Waheed Omer, said.
"Our understanding at this point is that no one in the delegation from Kabul was hurt," he said. He added the bomber appeared to have concealed the explosives in his turban.
Ambulances and vehicles used by senior officials rushed to the city's Red Mosque after the blast, and security officials rushed to block off nearby roads.
"Initial reports indicate that four people have been killed including the head of the provincial Ulema Council, Hikmatullah Hikmat, and a number of others wounded, in a suicide bombing inside a mosque," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The Ulema Council is an influential body of clerics that regulates religious issues in Kandahar.
The Kandahar government media office said at least 13 people were wounded in the blast, all Afghans.
The service had been packed with senior officials and Karzai relatives, but the Kandahar government media office said Mr Hikmat was the only senior casualty reported so far.
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of Hamid Karzai and one of the most powerful and controversial men in southern Afghanistan, was shot dead at his home on Tuesday by a senior family security official.
Afghan television channel, Tolo TV, reported a second explosion near the mosque on its Twitter account, but gave no further details, and there was no independent confirmation.
Reuters