KANDAHAR, Jan 31: At least 18 people were killed near Kandahar on Friday when a bus hit a mine. Police accused the Al Qaeda network of planting the mine.

Witnesses who rushed to help the survivors described a scene of carnage. Hours after the explosion, debris was still scattered over a large area and a one metre deep crater blasted out of the road.

“It was around 8 am when I heard a loud bang and rushed to the site where I saw people covered in blood,” said Asadullah, a villager with blood specks on his shoes.

“I helped the driver and two other people who were wounded to the hospital. People were torn into pieces.”

Mohammad Osmaan, who visited the local hospital, said the driver of the bus was injured and a young boy escaped with minor wounds and was later discharged. A third survivor died in hospital.

“It was not only a mine but a mortar shell was attached to it,” a local official said.

The police chief of Kandahar said he suspected the Al Qaeda network and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of planting the device, but Pashtun did not agree: “It is very difficult to say who was behind it. I guess it could be Taliban and Gulbuddin, because Al Qaeda are now gone. They are finished.”

Rahimullah Yusufzai, a leading Afghan expert based in Pakistan, also doubted that the Al Qaeda were involved in the attack.

He said remnants of the Taliban, whose stronghold was in Kandahar, were more likely suspects.

He added that the Taliban may also have been behind a fierce battle earlier this week near Spin Boldak, in which 18 rebels were killed as U.S. warplanes pounded their cave complex in the biggest Afghan battle in 10 months.

WEEK OF VIOLENCE: The Kandahar explosion capped a week of violent drama which saw four US soldiers die in a helicopter crash and extremists take on US forces in their fiercest battle in 10 months.