A suicide bomber targeted a crowded market in a restive district of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing up to 20 civilians in the deadliest attack in four months. The bombing in the Dihrawud district of Uruzgan province comes as attacks by the hard-line Taliban militia escalate, with violence spreading to regions that have so far been relatively peaceful.
"This was a suicide bomber on foot who detonated himself at the gate of a money-exchange market," said Afghan army General Abdul Hameed, commander of national forces in Uruzgan. Provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat had earlier said 15 civilians were killed. Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the latest attack was near Forward Operating Base Hadrian, and that its troops had helped evacuate the dead and treat the injured.
In another attack, in the neighbouring province of Helmand, one of the most violent regions in the country, a police officer was killed and five others were injured, Nato and Afghan authorities said. In the Helmand attack, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car, killing one police officer and injuring five others including four police officers and a civilian, Nato and Afghan officials said.