KABUL (Reuters) -- At least 40 people were killed and 60 wounded, all civilians, by a massive truck bomb that exploded in the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, the governor of the province said.
The blast took place shortly after dusk as Afghans across the country were breaking their daily fast in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
There was confusion over whether the explosion was from one big truck bomb or a series of smaller, simultaneous devices. A Reuters witness saw a restaurant set ablaze and a shop and several houses flattened.
Provincial Governor Ahmad Wali Karzai told Reuters that 40 people were killed and more than 60 wounded, all civilians.
Four U.S. servicemen were killed by a roadside bomb elsewhere in the south, NATO and the U.S. military said, making 2009 the deadliest year for the growing contingent of foreign troops in eight years of war.