Five killed in Afghanistan suicide attack

Five civilians were killed and 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest in a crowd Tuesday at a sports ground in northern Afghan province of Kunduz, police said.

"Based on initial information, five civilians were killed in the suicide bombing during a Buzkashi game on the outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city," provincial police spokesman Sayyed Sarwar Housaini told Xinhua.

Housaini said that 20 people, including a senior police officer, were wounded in the bombing which took place around 4.30 p.m.

Buzkashi or goat grabbing is Afghanistan's popular and national sport.

Afghan security forces sealed off the scene, while ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to the city's hospitals.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Anti-government militants, including Taliban, have in the past been blamed for such attacks.