Roadside bomb in southern Kandahar city kills elderly Afghan civilian, wounds 3 children

Bomb blast in southern Afghan city kills civilian

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan’s main southern city Friday, killing one civilian and wounding three children, an official said.

The early morning blast appeared to target an Afghan intelligence service vehicle that drove down a main road in Kandahar city, said Abdul Ali, an intelligence official who was at the scene. Instead, an elderly man took the brunt of the blast — his body could be seen lying in the street.

Three children were injured in the attack and taken to hospitals, he said.

The intelligence vehicle was damaged but no one inside was wounded, Ali said.

Also Friday, seven insurgents including one would-be suicide car bomber launched an attack on an Afghan border police station in Paktika province on the frontier with Pakistan.

Police opened fire as the bomber tried to enter the grounds of the station, police chief Dawlat Khan said. Officers killed the bomber before he could detonate the explosives-laden vehicle.

Three other militants outside the vehicle opened fire but were killed in a 30-minute gunbattle. Three others escaped.

One policeman and two civilians were killed and one policeman was wounded, Khan said.