LASHKAR GAH: A suicide car bomb exploded near a bank killing at least four people and wounding 22 others Saturday in Lashkar Gah, the capital of south Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province.
At least one child was known to have died in the blast, police said, adding that policemen and soldiers were among the wounded after the bomber struck as dozens queued to receive their salaries ahead of a religious festival.
No-one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, although the Taliban have carried out similar attacks in the past targeting government employees collecting their pay.
“So far, we have information that four people have been killed and 22 others injured in the suicide blast,” said Ismail Khan, an official at the city's police headquarters.
“Among the injured are 10 soldiers and four policemen. The rest are civilians — one seven-year-old girl and three more young people have been killed,” he said.
Deputy police chief Kamaluddin Sherzad said: “The blast took place near Kabul Bank and the telecommunications office some 50 metres from the governor's office.”
He added that many police and soldiers had gathered at Kabul Bank to collect their salaries ahead of the Eid festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramazan, although it was not clear exactly what the bomber was targeting.
Control of security in Lashkar Gah passed from foreign to Afghan forces in July as part of the first wave of a transition process which is due to see all foreign combat forces leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Lashkar Gah was deliberately chosen in the initial group to prove that Afghan security forces could hold their own in risky parts of their country, Western diplomats have said.
But some residents believe security has deteriorated since the handover, raising questions about the transition process. President Hamid Karzai is set to announce in late September or October where will be next to transition.
Since British troops formally handed control of security in Lashkar Gah to the Afghan army on July 20, there have been a string of attacks which have terrified residents.
These included a suicide car bomb attack on the town's police headquarters which killed 12 policemen and a child on July 31.
Nine people were also injured a week later what provincial officials describe as a gunfight between police.
And in a macabre incident the day before the transition ceremony, seven police were poisoned and then shot dead by insurgents.
There are presently around 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan supporting the Karzai's government, although they are all due to leave over the next three years.
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