Casualties of car bomb soar to 20 deaths, 93 wounded in S. Afghanistan

QALAT - The death toll of a car bomb on Thursday that rocked Qalat city, the capital of southern Afghanistan's Zabul province, has risen to 20, with over 93 others wounded, provincial government spokesman Gul Islam Sayal said.

"Twenty people lost their lives and 93 others wounded in the car bomb that hit a hospital in Qalat city today morning," Sayal told Xinhua.

Earlier, Interior Ministry spokesman put the number of casualties at 15 dead and 66 injured.

Sayal said the target of the militants was the civilian hospital and all the victims including women and children are civilian people.

Taliban outfit has claimed responsibility for the blast and in contact with media claimed that a suicide bomber targeted the provincial office of National Directorate of Security or the country's counter-intelligence agency, inflicting huge casualties.

Sayal rejected the Taliban claim, saying all the victims killed in Qalat's attack Thursday morning are the innocent civilians.

The armed group which has stepped up activities mostly in the shape of suicide bombing has also claimed responsibility for the deadly bombings that claimed scores of lives in Kabul, Charikar and Jalalabad cities over the past week.