Dual Suicide Attacks Kill At Least 22 Civilians In Kandahar

Smoke billows from the roof of a government building that the Taliban took over during clashes in Kandahar in 2011.

Afghan authorities say at least 22 people were killed when two suicide attackers blew themselves up in a market area in the southern province of Kandahar.

At least 50 people were injured in the coordinated June 6 attacks, which occurred in a crowded market in a parking lot close to the NATO-run Kandahar Air Base.

The parking lot is used by truckers who deliver supplies to the base, a massive military installation used by the international coalition.

Javid Faisal, a local government spokesman, said one attacker detonated his motorbike, which was packed with explosives.

Then, as crowds rushed to assist the casualties, a second suicide bomber walked up to the area and blew himself up, the spokesman said.

Faisal said all of those killed were civilians.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said that group was responsible for the attack.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP