15 Afghan women, children killed in Kandahar blast

Ahmad Shah told AFP nine people had died at the US military hospital at Kandahar airport, another three at a different hospital and three others at the scene of the explosion in the southern Manzalbath area.

Around 20 minutes before the deadly blast a smaller device detonated in the same area, without causing casualties. The blasts occurred minutes before provincial governor Yusuf Pashtun was due to pass through the area.

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A police officer who identified himself as Khalil said most of the dead and injured were women and children.

He said one suspect had been arrested over the first bomb blast and that he told police more bombs were planted in the city.

Kandahar is the former stronghold of Afghanistan's Taliban regime which was ousted by US-backed forces in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The first device went off at about 12:45 pm (0815 GMT), just minutes after police had sealed off the area following a tip-off. Police said residents became suspicious when two men moved a cart into the area and then departed.

"First there was an explosion in a cart and soon after this explosion the cart-pusher was arrested," said Kandahar's military commander Khan Mohammad.

Southern and southeastern Afghanistan have been hard-hit by an apparent resurgence of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies who have increasingly targeted aid workers as well as government troops.

On Monday unidentified gunmen opened fire and hurled a grenade at a United Nations office in Kandahar, without causing casualties, Khan Mohammad told AFP.

The attackers also fired shots with Kalashnikov rifles before the guards returned fire and the gunmen fled.