(Adds details) KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A remote-controlled car bomb blast on Tuesday shook the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, still reeling from attacks in the area which have killed scores of people in the past two days. The blast was aimed at a police vehicle but missed it, witnesses and police said. One civilian was killed and three more were wounded in the explosion, police said. The attack came as many people in the city observed general mourning for more than 140 people killed in two suspected suicide raids in the past two days in other parts of Kandahar province, a stronghold of Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government and its Western backers. Most victims of the two attacks were civilians. One that killed over 100 people on Sunday was the deadliest single raid since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. The recent blasts are part of rising violence in Afghanistan in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's fall. More than 11,000 people have been killed during this period and the Taliban have made a comeback, especially in the southern areas, where they enjoy the most sympathy amongst civilians. The latest attacks come as discussions are already underway among the Afghan government, the United States and its NATO allies on how to stabilise the country and prevent it from sliding back into anarchy. In light of the rising violence, many Afghans have questioned the alliance's and U.S. military's ability to secure their country as had promised. U.S.-led troops toppled Taliban's government after it refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the suspected architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The militants are active in southern and eastern areas and have bases in the lawless border areas of nuclear-armed Pakistan. (Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jerry Norton)
Medics in the Pakistani border town of Chaman tend to a wounded Afghan after a suicide attack in the southern Afghan town of Spin Boldak February 18, 2008. More than 20 ...
