Alwaght- A bombing has caused dozens of casualties in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Tuesday.
The blast, caused by explosives n two containers stored in an area of mechanics workshops, occurred at a security checkpoint near one of the city’s main markets, sending a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air.
Nematullah Barak, the head of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, said 16 dead and 38 wounded, including several children, had been brought in but the final total could be higher as ambulances were still at the scene, Reuters reported.
A statement from the Afghan intelligence service said the explosives were discovered in a large open yard of workshops but went off before they could be defused.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in militant bomb attacks since the beginning of the year, many in the capital, Kabul; but provincial cities have also been hit, including Kandahar, the capital of a province of the same name.
Kandahar Province, on the border with Pakistan, is a stronghold of Taliban militants and a major center of opium cultivation.
The ISIS terrorist group is another terrorist group present in Afghanistan.
Militant groups have put the Afghan government under pressure on multiple fronts this year as it prepares to hold long-delayed legislative elections.
