LEAD: Seven Afghan civilians killed in suicide bombing

Jan 19, 2012, 13:00 GMT

Kandahar, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber targeted one of NATO's largest military airfields in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing seven civilians and injuring eight others, officials said.

The bombing took place near a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airbase in Kandahar province.

Provincial governor office in a statement said that seven Afghan civilians were killed and eight others, including women and children, were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive packed vehicle close to Kandahar airfield.

'Bombing took place 200 meters far from the main gate of the air port,' it said, blaming the enemies of peace and stability, a term often use by Afghan officials to describe the Taliban militants.

Earlier an Afghan army commander had said that the bomber targeted NATO Special Forces as they were leaving the air field.

Kandahar airfield is one of the largest military bases for international forces in southern Afghanistan.

A spokesman for NATO forces in Afghanistan said that a car bomb was detonated at the entry control gate of the airfield, causing Afghan civilian casualties. He said there are no ISAF service member casualties.

A witness at the site of the explosion said that two vehicles of the foreign soldiers were destroyed in the explosion that also shattered glasses of nearby shops and houses.

Interior Ministry said that two children were among those seven civilians died in the blast.

The Taliban militants, in an online statement, claimed responsibility for the bombing carried out by one of their fighters 'Ahmad'.

The rebels claimed that dozen foreign soldiers' advisors were killed in the explosion.

Violence in Afghanistan continues even as the rebel group said earlier this month that it has agreed to open a diplomatic office in the Gulf state of Qatar, while continuing to fight against the Afghan and international forces.

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