(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-17 17:12

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded dozens more Sunday, a governor said. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

More than 300 people had gathered to watch the event on the western edge of the southern city of Kandahar, including several Afghan militia leaders.

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said 80 people were been killed. Abdullah Fahim, a Health Ministry spokesman, said 67 had been killed and 90 wounded, though he said the toll could rise.

Kandahar - the Taliban's former stronghold and Afghanistan's second largest city - is one of the country's largest opium poppy producing regions. The province has been the scene of fierce battles between NATO forces - primarily from Canada and the United States - and Taliban fighters over the last two years.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said "tens of people" had been killed and dozens more wounded, though officials did not yet have a precise count. He said it wasn't yet clear if the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker.

"All the police are there and they are evacuating the injured and the dead," Bashary said.

A witness, Mohammad Khan, 25, said hundreds of people had gathered in an open field to watch a dog fighting competition. He blamed the attack on a suicide bomber.

An AP reporter on the scene said five Afghan police vehicles were destroyed in the blast.

Dog fighting competitions are common around Afghanistan and can attract hundreds of spectators who cram into a tight circle around the spectacle. The sport, banned under the Taliban, is one of few forms of public entertainment in Afghanistan. The matches also invite discreet gambling on the dogs.

Kandahar - the Taliban's former stronghold and Afghanistan's second largest city - is one of the country's largest opium poppy producing regions. The province has been the scene of fierce battles between NATO forces - primarily from Canada and the United States - and Taliban fighters the last two years.

In eastern Kunar province, militants ambushed an Afghan army convoy, and several militants and a soldier were killed in the ensuing battle, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The clash occurred Saturday while the soldiers were on patrol in a mountainous area near a military camp in Kunar province's Kandagal area, he ministry said.