Coordinated bombs wound 11 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Apr 9 (Reuters) Two bombs went off in a coordinated attack in the Afghan city of Kandahar today and 11 people were wounded in the latest incident in a wave of militant violence, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts that went off about 15 minutes apart in the same vicinity on a road in the southern city but Taliban insurgents have claimed responsibility for a series of similar attacks.

Afghan army officer Khair Mohammad, who was at the scene, said three soldiers and three policemen had been wounded, as well as some civilians. A hospital official said five wounded civilians had been brought in, including two children.

The Taliban are fighting to expel foreign troops and overthrow the Western-backed government and they have mounted numerous attacks in recent weeks as NATO members prepare to send thousands of more peacekeepers to Afghanistan.

The first bomb exploded in a roadside potted plant and the second went off about 30 metres away after security forces and onlookers had gathered at the scene.

Mohammad said the bombs could have been triggered by remote control and he said one man had been detained for questioning.

Yesterday, a suicide attacker detonated a car filled with explosives outside a base of NATO-led peacekeeping troops in the western city of Herat and three people, including the bomber, were killed.

A suicide car-bomber killed himself and wounded three Americans in Lashkar Ghar, capital of the southern province of Helmand, on Friday.

Thousands of NATO reinforcements are due in Afghanistan soon as the force prepares to take over responsibilities in the south from the United States, which hopes to trim its Afghan force by several thousand.

REUTERS PG ND1102