KABUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car blast happened on Friday shortly after an ISAF convoy passed and killed only the attacker in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua.

    The explosion occurred in the morning on a road about 10 km southeast of Kandahar city, the provincial capital, said Shir Shar, the police chief of No. 5 district in the city.

    The blast happened just 10 minutes after a convoy of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) passed the site.

    It is unknown whether the target was the convoy or not.

    Kandahar has been a stronghold of Taliban militants, who attack foreign and Afghan troops frequently.

    About 2,000 ISAF and Afghan soldier are carrying out the major offensive of Operation Medusa in Panjwai and Zhari districts of the province to wipe out insurgents there.

    Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,100 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed. Enditem