Officials say that mostly civilians were killed, but police also number among the dead. At least 17 other people were wounded, several of them seriously.
Governor Mohammad Daud Safi was not among the casualties.
Separately, an explosion to the south of Afghanistan's capital Kabul today killed an Italian soldier and wounded at least five other soldiers and five Afghan civilians.
(AFP, AP, Reuters)
The Afghan Insurgency
A U.S. military vehicle damaged by insurgents near Kandahar (epa)
HOMEGROWN OR IMPORTED? As attacks against Afghan and international forces continue relentlessly, RFE/RL hosted a briefing to discuss the nature of the Afghan insurgency. The discussion featured Marvin Weinbaum, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and RFE/RL Afghanistan analyst Amin Tarzi.
LISTEN
Listen to the entire briefing (about 83 minutes):Real Audio Windows Media