Bomber kills 17 in Afghanistan

08/28/2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, a hospital official said.

The blast happened across from a police station in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, said Ghulam Muheddin, the provincial governor’s spokesman.

Hanif Khan, a local hospital official, said 17 people were killed and 47 were wounded, six critically.

Among the dead were the owner of the market, a former Lashkar Gah police chief, his son and a nephew, said Hayatullah Khan, a security guard at the scene.