Security forces in Kandahar had already cleared the area around a bus station where the van was found, provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi said
The blast was so powerful that the majority of the casualties were passers-by outside the cleared area. Pic/AFP
At least 16 people were killed and 38 wounded today when a minivan packed with explosives detonated as security forces were trying to defuse it in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
Security forces in Kandahar had already cleared the area around a bus station where the van was found, provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi said. "As the security forces were trying to defuse the van, it detonated," said police spokesman Mohammad Qasim Azad. "The latest figures show 16 dead and 38 wounded people brought to the hospital. We still have two ambulances at the site because there might be more people under the rubble," Dr Nehmat Barak, chief of the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, said.
Ahmadi confirmed the toll, adding that the dead included four security forces personnel. At least five children and 10 members of the security forces were among the wounded.
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