GARDEZ (Afghanistan), May 20: A man strapped with bombs blew himself up in a town in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 10 people in the second major suicide bombing claimed by the Taliban in two days.

The attacker struck at crowded market place in the town of Gardez, 100 kilometres south of Kabul. “Ten of our civilian countrymen were martyred and 30 others were wounded,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

The US-led coalition said it had soldiers in the area at the time of the blast but it could not immediately say if any of them had been caught up in the explosion.

Most of the 30 wounded civilians who were admitted to the main hospital in Gardez were in a bad condition, doctor Niaz Mohammad said. Several were rushed to the capital, nearly three hours' drive away.

“I was in my classroom when it happened. I heard a huge explosion. It shook our school,” said 18-year-old student Delawar Khan, who was among streams of people who hurried to the scene to witness the destruction.

Blood stained the ground, which was littered with shards of glass and other debris. Five vehicles damaged in the explosion stood nearby.

The attacker's target was unclear, although a witness said he had seen a foreign military vehicle pass by minutes before the blast. Most of the suicide bombings in the country are aimed at Afghan and foreign military forces.

Three German soldiers with the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed and five wounded on Saturday when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a busy bazaar in the northern town of Kunduz.

Six Afghans were killed and a dozen wounded.

It was the deadliest incident involving the German deployment to Afghanistan since 2003, when four German soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul.

“These treacherous murders fill us with horror and terror,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

The Taliban movement said it was behind both the suicide bombings.

A man who was chased by ISAF soldiers in Gardez on Saturday, after running away from a bomb-filled car, had also been planning a suicide attack, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said.

Three ISAF soldiers were wounded in the incident when their vehicle rolled over. The man escaped.

The Taliban vowed last week a new wave of violence to avenge the killing of its famously brutal top military commander Mullah Dadullah on May 11.

Military officials have also warned of an increase in suicide bombings by the insurgent group, which uses Al-Qaeda-style terror tactics as part of a growing campaign against the government and Afghan and international troops.

“This is the so-called fighting season -- we expected to see more suicide bombing around the country,” ISAF spokesman Major John Thomas said on Sunday.

The military forces trying to beat back the relentless insurgency have also intensified their operations in recent weeks.

More than 30 rebel fighters were killed in the southern province of Ghazni early Sunday in a sweep involving foreign forces, provincial police commander Alishah Ahmadzai said.—AFP