Fears of Taliban spring offensive grow as suicide bomber kills 80 in Afghanistan

The massive blast hit a crowd of people watching an outdoor dog-fighting contest.

Among those killed was a local police chief and prominent opponent of the Taliban, Abdul Hakim Jan, who was believed to have been the target of the bombing.

"This suicide attack was the work of the Taliban," Governor Assadullah Khalid said, adding the death toll may rise.

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Stronger: Taliban sparked fears of a new onslaught of violence after killing 80 in Kandahar

Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold and last week the Kandahar governor himself was the target of an attempt on his life.

Dog-fighting competitions, which were banned under the Taliban regime, are a popular pastime in Afghanistan and excitement was mounting among the 500-strong, male-only crowd when the huge blast struck. "Fighting had just started between two dogs," said one spectator, Abdul Karim.

"Suddenly I heard a huge explosion next to a police vehicle. Then I saw lots of people dead and wounded. I counted over 40 people on the ground dead," Mr Karim, 53, said.

Twisted car and bicycle parts littered the ground as shawls and shoes lay scattered among the bodies of the dead and wounded.

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Bloody: A body is carried away from the blast site where a dog fight was being held

Injured spectators staggered through the carnage searching for relatives.

Scores of wounded were packed into civilian cars and rushed to hospitals in the city centre, some nine miles away.

Aside from Abdul Hakim, several other policemen were reported to be among the victims of the blast.

The Taliban claim to have influence across most of the country and have extended their area of control from their traditional heartland in the south.

They have a significant presence around Kandahar from where they carry out suicide attacks and roadside bomb blasts.

The militants are even able to operate freely in Wardak province, neighbouring the capital Kabul.

Last year, violence in Afghanistan reached its highest levels since the Taleban were forced from power in 2001.

Kandahar is one of the country's largest opium poppy producing areas and the province has been the scene of fierce battles between NATO forces, primarily from Canada and the United States, and Taliban fighters over the last two years.

Wali Karzai, brother of President Hamid Karzai and the president of Kandahar's provincial council, said the target of the attack was Abdul Hakim Jan.

Jan was the provincial police chief in Kandahar in the early 1990s and was the only commander in the province to stand up against the Taliban during its rule.

"Hakim Jan is one of the important, prominent jihadi commanders in Kandahar," a local parliamentarian said.

"There were so many people gathered and of course the Taliban and al-Qaeda usually target this kind of important people."

Faizullah Qari Gar, a resident of Kandahar who was at the dog fight, said militant commanders' bodyguards opened fire on the crowd after the bombing.

"In my mind there were no Taliban to attack after the blast but the bodyguards were shooting anyway," he said.

Suicide attacks have been on the rise in Afghanistan, but rarely have they killed so many people.

Militants carried out more than 140 suicide attacks in 2007, a record number.

The previous deadliest bomb attack came in November in the northern city of Baghlan, when a suicide bombing and subsequent gunfire from bodyguards killed about 70 people including six parliamentarians and 58 students and teachers.