Tanker bomb hits Afghan government office, killing 6

A suicide bomber driving an oil tanker detonated his explosives next to an Afghan government office during a provincial council meeting today, killing at least six people and wounding 42, officials said. The attack in the southern city of Kandahar ripped through the council office, flattened five nearby homes and damaged the nearby offices of the country's intelligence service. The bomb dug a crater some 15 feet deep into the ground, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said. Rahmatullah Raufi, the governor of Kandahar province, said that among the dead were two intelligence agents, one police officer and three civilians. Raufi blamed Taliban militants for the attack. The blast in Kandahar, the Taliban's former stronghold, came as the provincial council was hearing constituent complaints. Two members of the provincial council were wounded in the attack, Raufi said. Afghan police, soldiers and intelligence agents were at the site, as were Canadian soldiers.