KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A powerful car bomb exploded Friday as a U.S. military convoy passed by, and police officials reported at least four American soldiers were seriously wounded. A U.S. spokeswoman said that according to an initial assessment, one soldier was hurt.
A policeman at the scene, Tor Jan, and several witnesses told The Associated Press that two of the soldiers had died. Gen. Salim Khan, deputy police chief of Kandahar province, would not confirm that account.
"When our forces reached the scene of the explosion, they saw four American soldiers lying on the road covered in blood. They were seriously wounded," Khan said. "I do not know if any of them died."
Master Sgt. Ann Bennett, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Kabul, confirmed that an explosion had occurred on the road right outside a joint military-civilian reconstruction team headquarters, but said her initial report listed just one soldier wounded and one vehicle damaged.
It was impossible to immediately clarify the discrepancy, and the identity of the U.S. military unit hit in the attack wasn't known.
About 60 U.S. solders and more than 100 Afghan security forces cordoned off the area, a busy road that leads from the American base to the center of town, warning journalists not to take pictures. But the charred remains of one car - presumably the one carrying the bomb - could be seen. It appeared to be a taxi.
Khan said authorities believed the bomb was set off by remote control, as no body was found inside the wreckage.
U.S. soldiers, with sniffer dogs, were frisking at least six men who had been made to sit on the ground with their hands raised in the air.
Kandahar is the main city in southern Afghanistan, and home to a large U.S. base. It has been the site of frequent attacks, usually against convoys making their way on dusty roads.
The bombing occurred a day after the military announced the pullout of the 2,400-strong 22md Marine Expeditionary Unit that had been patrolling in southern Afghanistan since March. The Marines were staying at the Kandahar base awaiting their departure to American warships in the region.
The Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based force had killed more than 100 enemy fighters during their tour of duty in Afghanistan, losing just one of their own.
They had been part of a push to beef up the U.S. presence here ahead of landmark October elections, but their pullout was widely expected because of the normal rotation of Marine Expeditionary Units, who normally spend a period of months in any one place.
Taliban remnants and al-Qaida fighters have managed to keep up a drumbeat of violence, much of it against election workers, leading to concern that the vote will be able to take place in a free and fair atmosphere.
More than 600 people - including soldiers, international workers and civilians, have been killed in violence in Afghanistan this year.
In January, a double bombing killed 15 people, all but two of them children, on a street in Kandahar regularly used by U.S. forces. In December, a suspected member of the Taliban threw a grenade at a U.S. military vehicle in the city, wounding two American soldiers.
More recently, motorcycle gunmen fatally shot Hamid Agha, the government's head of refugee affairs in Kandahar city on June 15.
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