Motorcycle bomb kills at least 1 in southern Afghan city of Kandahar

Bomb in Kandahar city kills at least 1

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A motorcycle bomb exploded in the commercial center of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday, killing at least one person, police said.

Cars were ablaze and windows shattered at a popular shopping center in the aftermath of the blast.

One bystander was killed when the bomb, concealed in a parked motorcycle, exploded in the middle of the afternoon, said Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, the city’s security chief.

Kandahar is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban and the province surrounding it is the site of a U.S.-led military operation to strengthen government control.

Insurgent attacks and coalition raids have intensified across Afghanistan as 30,000 more American troops arrive to try to turn around the 9-year-old war against the Taliban and stabilize the Afghan government.