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 LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber targeting a former police chief blew himself up in a busy town market Monday in southern Afghanistan, killing 17 people and wounding 47. The Taliban claimed responsibility but in a rare move expressed sadness over the deaths of civilians.
The blast wrecked shop fronts and left body parts and blood-soaked turbans among shattered glass in the bazaar of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. All the 17 dead were civilian men, said Ghulam Muheddin, the provincial governor's spokesman. The 47 wounded included 15 children, he said.
A shopkeeper, Razaq Khan, said the blast was "the biggest explosion I have seen in my life."
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