Suicide Bomber Kills 13 In Kandahar

(RFE/RL) KANDAHAR, Afghanistan; 7 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Thirteen people were killed and at least 11 others wounded today when a suicide bomber set off explosives outside police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

An RFE/RL Afghan Service correspondent on the scene quoted the director of Kandahar's Mir Wais Hospital as saying 13 dead and 11 injured had been brought to his hospital. The director said the victims appeared to include "security officers" and civilians.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yosuf, has claimed responsibility on behalf of that group.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said the bomber detonated his explosives during a search as he tried to enter the police compound on a motorcycle.

Also today, a bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded in the town of Spin Boldak, in Kandahar Province near the border with Pakistan, wounding three civilians.

(RFE/RL's Afghan Service and agency reports)