Afghanistan's ousted Taliban has apologised for a bomb attack in the southern city of Kandahar that killed 16 people, including many children, and called it a botched attempt to target U.S. troops.
The ousted Islamic militia initially denied involvement in Tuesday's explosion near a military compound as children were passing on their way home from school.
The blast came just two days after a new constitution was adopted in Kabul, which Afghans hope will usher in a period of peace and stability after a quarter of a century of bloodshed.
"It was a mistake by our mujahideen (holy warriors)," senior Taliban commander Mullah Sabir Momin said by satellite telephone on Wednesday.
"We wanted to target the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) office in the city, but because of a small mistake, this plan failed," he said.
PRTs are civilian-military groups, mostly under the umbrella of U.S.-led forces in the country, deployed across Afghanistan to improve security and support reconstruction efforts. The PRT in Kandahar is under U.S. command.
Vital assistance missions have been suspended across as much as a third of the country due to deteriorating security, with much of the violence blamed on the Taliban and its allies.
Momin said U.S. and allied forces regularly passed along the route where the explosion occurred.
One person was arrested by Afghan authorities shortly after the blast, but Momin said he did not know the individual and that Taliban guerrillas had got away on motorcycles.
He urged residents of the dusty, bleak former Taliban stronghold to stay away from buildings belonging to U.S. or Afghan forces, adding that they would soon be attacked.
A statement from the U.S. military released late on Tuesday pinned the blame for the atrocity firmly on the Taliban.