Taliban claims Kandahar suicide bombing - Web

DUBAI, May 18 (Reuters) A Taliban fighter carried out the suicide bombing in the Afghan city of Kandahar in which a cabinet minister was wounded, the Islamist group said today.

''One of the heroes of the Islamic emirate, Asem Kandahari, carried out ... a martyrdom operation against the motorcade of senior officials,'' the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.

''It was said that Assadullah Khalid, the governor of the province and the information minister ... were in the motorcade,'' the group said.

Information Minister Karim Khurram suffered facial injuries yesterday when the bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a vehicle carrying the minister and Khalid.

Three civilians were killed in the attack in Kandahar, a bastion for Taliban guerrillas.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified but it was posted on a Web site used by militant groups including al Qaeda, Taliban's key ally.

The attack was part of a fresh wave of violence by suspected Taliban militants following the traditional winter lull.

The attack came just days after the death of the Taliban's top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in a US-led coalition raid in southern Afghanistan at the weekend.

More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in fighting in 2006, the most violent year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Reuters AB DB2312