Bomb kills four in Afghanistan

At least four civilians were killed and 22 others wounded Monday when a bomb placed in a busy area went off in southern Afghanistan, an official said.

“The explosives hidden in a hand-cart in a crowded bazaar in Kandahar city, detonated at 9 am (0430 GMT),” said Javed Faisal, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province.

“It is not clear yet how the explosives blew up, but a remote-control device has been found in the pocket of a dead person,” Faisal said.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Insurgent attacks have increased recently in Afghanistan, while people prepare for the Eid festival that follows Ramadan.

Nine civilians, eight of them children, were killed and 22 injured on Saturday in a suicide bombing near the Indian consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad. On Sunday, 16 people including the provincial prosecutor of Nangarhar were injured in a roadside bombing in the same city.