KABUL (AFP) — A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 29 in Afghanistan Saturday in an attack during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that was similar to scores of others by Taliban extremists.
The attack in the town of Spin Boldak in the southern province of Kandahar came as President Hamid Karzai made a short visit the provincial capital, less than 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.
The bomber was on a motorbike and blew himself up in a crowded part of the town as people were shopping, Kandahar province police chief Sayed Aqa Safed told AFP.
His target appeared to have been two pick-ups filled with policemen parked in the busy street.
"Five civilians and two policemen were killed," Safed told AFP. Twenty-one policemen and eight civilians were hurt. "The suicide attacker was torn into pieces," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban have stepped up the use of suicide attacks in an insurgency launched since they were driven from government in late 2001.
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