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KANDAHAR (AFGHANISTAN) - A SUICIDE bomber at a dog fighting competition killed 80 people and injured many others yesterday in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.
Officials said the bomber's apparent target was prominent anti-Taleban militia commander Abdul Hakim Jan, who died in the attack.
He was the only militia commander in the province to stand up to the Taleban during its rule, said Mr Khalid Pashtun, a parliamentarian who represents Kandahar, where the attack took place.
Dog-fighting competitions are a popular form of entertainment in Afghanistan, and several hundred people, including the militia, had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Eyewitness Faizullah Qari Gar said bodyguards of the militia commander opened fire on the crowd after the bombing. It is not clear how many died of bullet wounds.
Suicide attacks have been on the rise in Afghanistan but rarely have they killed so many people. Militants carried out more than 140 suicide attacks last year, a record number.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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