AFGHANISTAN SUICIDE BOMBINGS KILL 31

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan

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Four suicide bombers struck the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday evening, killing at least 31 people and destroying houses and shops, according to investigators.

Officials said the bombs exploded near a hotel, a police station and at the city's main prison, possibly in an attempt to free Taliban militants.

Other reports indicated that a large blast at the prison was followed by a barrage of rockets."There were four suicide bombers, including two in cars, and all the attacks happened within the city about 7:30 p.m.," Mohammad Pashtun, chief of criminal investigations for Kandahar province, told The Los Angeles Times by telephone.

"Thirty-one people have been killed and at least 45 are wounded. They are all civilians."Two of the bombs were believed to have been carried on a motorcycle and a bicycle.

One of the explosions killed women and children in a wedding hall near the prison.