Photo taken on July 6, 2021 shows a damaged shop near the site of a car bombing in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. One member of security forces was killed and 20 people were wounded on Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a busy road in Kandahar city, a provincial health official confirmed.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

A member of Afghan security forces inspects the site of a car bombing in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on July 6, 2021. One member of security forces was killed and 20 people were wounded on Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a busy road in Kandahar city, a provincial health official confirmed.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Afghan security forces inspect the site of a car bombing in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on July 6, 2021. One member of security forces was killed and 20 people were wounded on Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a busy road in Kandahar city, a provincial health official confirmed.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Afghan security forces inspect the site of a car bombing in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on July 6, 2021. One member of security forces was killed and 20 people were wounded on Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a busy road in Kandahar city, a provincial health official confirmed.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
One security force was killed and 20 people were wounded on Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a busy road in Kandahar city, capital of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, a provincial health official confirmed.

The wounded included 11 civilians and nine security forces, Dawood Farhad, director of the provincial civil hospital, told Xinhua, adding that seven were seriously injured.

"The initial information found the nature of the blast was a suicide car bombing that occurred in Police District 7 of the city at midday," a security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attack was targeting a convoy of Afghan Special Forces driving near a special forces' station in the area, he said.

The blast sent a column of thick smoke into the sky and triggered panic.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The province has been the scene of heavy clashes between security forces and Taliban militants fighting the government in recent weeks.