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Motorcycle bomb kills 8 in southern Afghan market

17 August 2011 04:32 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded in a vegetable market in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing eight people at dusk as residents broke their daily fast for the holy month of Ramadan, authorities said, APA reports siting Associated Press.

Separately, Afghan police said a rocket fired into the Afghan capital early Wednesday landed on the grounds of the presidential palace. It was unclear whether the rocket caused any casualties or damage.

The motorcycle bomb in the south was parked at the market in the Dihrawud district of Uruzgan province, said provincial council director Amanullah Otaq. He said eight people were killed and dozens wounded.

Uruzgan provincial spokesman Hamid Milad Mudasir confirmed the incident, but said he could not confirm how many people were killed because family members had taken many of the bodies away immediately after the attack.

The blast was the latest in a series of attacks in the turbulent south, where the Taliban are pushing back against a concerted campaign from U.S. and NATO troops to quell the insurgency.

In the capital, Mohammad Zahir, the chief of criminal investigation for the Kabul police, confirmed that at least one rocket landed in the city early Wednesday morning.