Powerful bomb blast kills 16 people nearly 40 injured despite clearance

A powerful bomb blast has occurred in the city, injuring many innocent by-passers and killing 16 of them.

On Tuesday, May 22^nd, a minivan filled with explosives detonated in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, said the authorities.

Security forces were trying to defuse an explosives-laden van in the southern Kandahar province at the time of the blast. The casualties were high despite the area around a bus station where the van was parked had been cleared.

Provisional governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi, confirming the toll, said that the dead included four security forces personnel. At least five children and 10 members of the security forces were among the wounded.

According to Ahmadi, the blast was very powerful, security forces also found a large container of explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, suicide vests, and ammunition near the site.

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Dozens of shops and nearby homes were destroyed or damaged, and the death toll could rise, he said. Abdul Saleh, 29, who was wounded in the attack, said the sound was “so loud, like strong thunder.” He said he was knocked unconscious and later woke up in a hospital bed.

The terrorists planned to conduct a big attack at end of Ramadan in the city among crowds of people as they went out shopping for Eid… security forces prevented a disaster from happening,” one security official told a leading news agency.

The explosives were found in a cluster of car mechanic shops. It was unclear who placed them there. No group has immediately claimed responsibility.

The blast comes as the Taliban step up their spring offensive across the war-torn country.

The Taliban launched a wave of attacks late Monday in the eastern Ghazni province, killing at least 14 police, including a district police chief and a reserve unit’s commander, according to provincial council member Hassan Reza Yusoufi. The attacks continued on Tuesday in four districts, according to Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, who said 12 other security forces were wounded.