Afghan suicide attack kills eight

Taleban militants often target foreign troops in Kandahar

A suicide car bomb has exploded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least eight civilians, officials say.

The target of the attack was a Nato military convoy, police said.

At least 24 people, including two police officers, have been injured in the explosion, they said.

In Kandahar, the Taleban insurgents have been fighting some of their fiercest battles against international and Afghan forces.

A large number of foreign troops are deployed in the province and they are often the target of militant attacks.

Kandahar police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib said the explosion occurred as a Nato-led military convoy passed through the area on a busy street.

He was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying that no foreign troops were hurt in the incident.

Most of the casualties are reported to be carpenters who own workshops at the side of the road.

"May God kill you. You are killing our sons," cried a veiled woman quoted by the news agency AFP.

Her son, who ran one of the carpentry shops, was missing after the explosion.

Limbs and human flesh were scattered around the scene, while the burned-out remains of a mangled car lay in the middle of the road, reports said.