Eighty killed in bloodiest attack since Taliban's fall

A suicide bomber killed more than 80 people at a picnic spot in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar yesterday in the most deadly attack since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

The attack will add urgency to a debate about how the United States and Afghanistan's other allies can help stem violence.

"This event ... left behind more than 80 killed and 50 wounded," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The death toll may rise because some of the wounded were critical.

The attack happened in a field where a crowd of people, including police, were watching dog fights on the western outskirts of Kandahar city.

Enemies

Kandahar governor Assadullah Khalid said it was the work of Afghanistan's enemies, a term used by the government to refer to Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban could not be contacted for comment.

The head of an auxiliary police force in Kandahar, Abdul Hakim, was among the dead, Mr Khalid said.

After the blast, some of Hakim's guards fired at the crowd causing casualties, witnesses said.

The Interior Ministry said it was the bloodiest attack since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

In November, a suicide bomb attack and subsequent firing by police killed more than 75 people, including six politicians, in the province of Baghlan.

Thirteen policemen and six children were killed yesterday, a police official near the site of the blast said.

"The match was going on and all of a sudden the explosion went off," said witness Abdul Rahman whose brother was killed.

Dog-fighting is a popular pastime in Afghanistan. The hardline Taliban banned it during its rule, along with other forms of entertainment such as music, dancing and television.

Kandahar is a stronghold of the Taliban who largely rely on suicide attacks and roadside bombings in their campaign to force foreign troops out and topple the government.

Despite the presence of more than 50,000 foreign troops, as well as some 140,000 Afghan troops, the militants have made a comeback in the past two years, and more than 11,000 people have been killed.

Violence has been concentrated in areas bordering Pakistan where the militants have taken refuge in lawless areas.Taliban

Some Western politicians say more troops are needed to tackle the insurgency or Afghanistan will slide back into anarchy.

President Hamid Karzai, who has been leading Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted, instead wants the strengthening of the Western-trained Afghan forces and more funds.

- Ismail Sameem and Mirwais Afghan in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Independent

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