KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A bomb in a minibus exploded at a security checkpoint in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Tuesday causing numerous casualties, officials said, as attacks continue during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The blast, near one of the city's main markets, sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air but there was no immediate official word on casualties.
A doctor in the Kandahar provincial hospital said 25 wounded had been brought in but he added that ambulances were still picking up victims.
Officials said the blast appeared to have occurred when the minibus was stopped at a checkpoint of the NDS intelligence service but it was not clear whether that was the target.
Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in high-profile bomb attacks since the beginning of the year, many in the capital Kabul but provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban, seeking to reimpose hardline Islamic rule, have stepped up fighting across the country.
Kandahar province, on the border with Pakistan, is a major centre of opium cultivation and a stronghold of the Taliban but the city itself has recently been relatively secure.
