KABUL, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - At least eight people were killed and 17 injured when a car packed with explosives blew up at a market in Afghanistan's volatile southern province of Helmand, the local police chief said Wednesday.
Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said the bomb was planted in a parked car near a central market in the town of Gereshk. The Taliban are reported to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Taliban fighters earlier said they would step up attacks against Afghan and foreign troops as part of their aim to topple the country's pro-Western government.
On Tuesday, three Taliban insurgents were arrested and 30 shortwave radios were seized in the neighboring province, Kandahar.
The Taliban perpetrated over 100 suicide bomb attacks in 2007, killing several thousand people.
