An explosion at an ammunition depot in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 10 Afghans.
The massive explosion destroyed a large ammunition storage depot in the southern Afghan city of Spin Boldak. The explosion, which took place late Thursday, killed Afghan soldiers guarding the depot and civilians living next to it.
The Reuters News Agency quotes a regional Afghan official as saying he believes a rocket fired by al-Qaida fighters destroyed the depot, but the report has yet to be independently confirmed. The area around Spin Boldak is a former stronghold of the Taleban, and al-Qaida.
The explosion was so big it could be heard 20 kilometers away in the Pakistan border town of Chaman. A number of other buildings in the vicinity of the depot were heavily damaged in the explosion. A spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program says several local staff members were injured by projectiles.
Witnesses to the blast say a number of houses were also destroyed and the number casualties could rise as more victims are recovered from the rubble.