Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt in the southern city of Kandahar on Thursday shortly after a car bomb blast killed 22 people in the Capital Kabul. ‘‘Al Qaeda or elements of Al Qaeda could be behind that,’’ Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told reporters in Kabul hours after Karzai survived the attempt on his life. An official in Kandahar province said one US Special Forces soldier and the Governor of Kandahar, Gul Agha Sherzai, were wounded in the attack. Abdullah said there was one gunmen. The Kandahar official said earlier the attackers were dressed in Afghan military uniforms and opened fire on Karzai as he was travelling in a car outside the Governor’s house. The BBC said two rounds were fired into Karzai’s car and his US bodyguards had opened fire and killed one attacker. The attack on Karzai followed a huge car bomb explosion in market area in Central Kabul. The attack killed 22 people and injured about 65 others, a UN security official said. Emergency vehicles and armoured personnel carriers from the international peacekeeping force rushed to the scene in a crowded market area near the Information Ministry. Witnesses said a smaller explosion had drawn crowds to the area when the car bomb, apparently a taxi, exploded in front of a building containing shops selling televisions and satellite dishes — all forbidden during the hardline Taliban rule. The second floor of the building housed a small hotel. Police sealed off the area, but emergency vehicles could be seen rushing injured to hospitals. Some dazed victims were led away, their clothing ripped and covered in blood. Five or six vehicles were destroyed, windows shattered and doors of shops ripped off their hinges. ‘‘This bomb was inside a taxi,’’ said police spokesman Dul Aqa. ‘‘It was a very, very strong explosion. We can’t say exactly who was behind it but we know the last bombs were Al Qaeda and (former prime minister) Gulbuddin (Hekmatyar).’’ Hekmatyar issued a call for jehad this week to drive away US and foreign troops including international peacekeepers from Afghanistan. The death toll was uncertain because Afghans often pick up the bodies of their relatives and bury them immediately without reporting the death. But a UN security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 22 people had been killed. The blast occurred in one of the most congested areas of the city on a day when many residents do their shopping before Friday prayers. One shopper, Haji Abdul Aroof, said he saw four bodies lying in the street. ‘‘We came to see what was happening when the second bomb went off,’’ he said. ‘‘There was a powerful explosion and we all ran.’’ Several main roads in the city were blocked and additional police and soldiers took positions at strategic points in the Capital.
