At least 16 people were killed when an explosion tore apart a minibus travelling near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today.
Confusion surrounded the cause of the blast which witnesses said left limbs and pieces of bodies strewn across the road, with security and government authorities blaming both an accident and a bomb plot.
The Kandahar deputy police chief said the vehicle was destroyed by a landmine planted by extremists in the village of Killi Rambasi, 10 kilometres south of Kandahar, Afghanistan's main southern city.
"Sixteen passengers died on the spot and two, the vehicle's driver and a child, were slightly injured. The injured were released after initial treatment," he said.
"We suspect the landmine was planted by al-Qaeda or Taliban terrorists," he said, adding that supporters of the radical Hezb-i-Islami party of renegade former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar could also be involved.
"We are investigating, we have enhanced security in the area and set up police pickets to check vehicle movement."
AFP