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At least 17 killed, over 20 injured in explosion in southern Afghanistan's bathhouse

RIA Novosti

12:16 07/01/2011 MOSCOW, January 7 (RIA Novosti) - At least 17 people died, with over 20 injured when a blast inside a public bathhouse in southern Afghanistan occurred on Friday, local media said.

"We do not know whether it was a suicide attack. All we know at this stage is that there was an explosion inside the bathhouse and we are investigating," a spokesman for the governor, Zalmai Ayoubi, was quoted by Aljazeera.

The blast occurred in the town of Spin Boldak in Afghani Kandahar province on the border with Pakistan, when a suicide bomber blew up explosives strapped to his chest.

An investigation is ongoing.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months, with the Taliban group, which was toppled in a 2001 U.S.-led campaign, staging regular attacks on provincial government officials, police and civilians and planting roadside bombs to target Afghan, U.S. and NATO troops.



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