KANDAHAR, Feb 7: A suspected Taliban militant blew himself up at the police headquarters in Kandahar on Tuesday, killing 13 people, officials said. A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Taliban said the movement was responsible for the blast.

“A suicide bomber wanted to get into the headquarters and while police were searching for him he detonated the bomb which killed 13 people, among which seven are police and six civilians,” Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told AFP. He said eight civilians and five policemen were wounded.

“The suicide bomber was blown into pieces. This is the work of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the enemies of peace and development in Afghanistan,” Mr Stanizai said.

A doctor at the Kandahar public health hospital said most of the wounded were in critical condition.

A witness said the bomber had been on a motorcycle and had detonated his explosives in a crowd that had gathered at the gate which was closed after two foreigners had entered.

“As soon as they got in, police closed the headquarters gates where a large number of people were waiting to get in,” he said. “That was when I saw a big explosion from a motorbike and a person riding it.”

A destroyed motorbike was at the scene of the blast, which was splattered in blood, a correspondent said.

Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP: “It was carried out by one of our mujahedin brothers. It was a suicide attack aimed at the police headquarters.”—AFP