Suicide bombing kills at least 26 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN —  A man on a motorized rickshaw blew himself up Monday in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 26 people, officials said.

A shopkeeper said children selling chewing gum and cigarettes were among about 60 people wounded in the blast, which apparently was aimed at a police commander.

The bomb detonated near a taxi stand around 6:30 p.m. -- just before evening prayers -- in the town of Gereshk in Helmand province.

Gereshk district chief Abdul Manaf Khan said about 28 people were killed, including 13 police and about 15 civilians. The provincial chief of public health, Enayatullah Ghafari, said the hospital recorded 26 deaths and about 60 injuries, though he said the death toll was probably higher.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said 13 people were taken to a NATO-Afghan base for treatment and 45 people to the Gereshk hospital.

Taliban militants have set off a record number of suicide bombs this year -- more than 100 through the end of August -- but few as deadly as Monday’s.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman, said a local police commander, who survived the attack, appeared to have been the target.

There has been a sharp rise in violence in Afghanistan this year, especially in the south. More than 4,200 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count.