4 suicide attacks in Kandahar; at least 30 die

Kandahar: A suicide squad detonated bombs at a newly fortified prison, police headquarters and two other locations on Saturday night, killing at least 30 people in the largest city of the southern Taliban heartland.

The prison was the main target, but no prisoners escaped, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother said. Ahmed Wali Karzai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council, said two of the explosions occurred near his home, which was not damaged.

Wali Karzai told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Canadian troops had reinforced the prison with cement block after a suicide attack in 2008 blew apart the prison gates and freed hundreds of criminals and suspected insurgents.

"They wanted to keep people busy in the city and break the prison, but the Canadians last time did a good job," Wali Karzai said.

"They did a lot of reconstruction so they couldn't break the prison this time."

One suicide attack struck at the front gate of the Kandahar police headquarters, causing a lot of casualties, he said.

"There are a lot of civilian causalities," Wali Karzai said.