A blast in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar has caused dozens of casualties, officials say, as fighting across the country showed no sign of easing off during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
There was some confusion about the cause of the Kandahar explosion, which sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air.
Officials initially said it was caused by a bomb packed into a minibus but later said the explosives were in two containers stored in an area of mechanics' workshops.
Nematullah Barak, a head of the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar, said 16 dead and 38 wounded, including several children, had been brought in but the final total could be higher as ambulances were still at the scene.
The NDS intelligence service said in a statement the explosives were discovered in a large open yard of workshops but went off before they could be defused.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The casualties add to the hundreds of people who have been killed or wounded in bomb attacks since the beginning of the year.
Many have been in the capital, Kabul, but provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban, seeking to reimpose hardline Islamic rule, have stepped up fighting across the country.
Kandahar province, on the border with Pakistan, is a major centre of opium cultivation and a stronghold of the Taliban but the city has recently been relatively secure.
Tuesday's explosion came as the Taliban pushed ahead with their spring offensive, launched last month, with fighting in several areas of the country.
As many as seven police were killed in clashes on Monday night between security forces and the Taliban in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, where the insurgents have cut a highway with the neighbouring province of Paktika, officials said.
Additional reporting: Reuters
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