Afghanistan: Kandahar Air Field suicide bomb kills at least 6 civilians

GlobalPost

At least six people were killed in a suicide bombing at Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan today, officials said.

The Taliban has claimed reponsibility for the attack, Agence France Presse reported.

The blast was apparently supposed to target foreign troops at the airport, where thousands of US and NATO soldiers are based, the BBC reported.

However, officials said that all six confirmed fatalities were civilians. Two of the dead were children, according to the Washington Post.

Kandahar police chief Abdul Razaq told the Associated Press that the bomber – a man – arrived on foot and tried to approach a gate in the perimeter fence before blowing himself up.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a market in neighbouring Helmand province, killing at least 12 Afghans. Shortly afterwards, another four people were killed in a mine explosion claimed by the Taliban.

Taliban leaders must have "lost all all control over insurgents" to allow such attacks on civilians, said the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, General John Allen.

"This latest act of violence further confirms that the insurgency has declared outright war on the people of Afghanistan and will stop at nothing to continue to use terrorism and intimidation to advance their own malign and selfish ends."

More from GlobalPost: Taliban ready to start peace talks with Afghanistan

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